Smiles Of A Summer Night
by srgeman
Summary: My name is Angela, and when I became human again, things should have been easy. As I serch for my sister though, I have to help Anna trust humanity, I have to decide my relationship with Michael, and someone wants to kill me of course. What fun.
1. Reborn

**I: Reborn**

I promised you another story my dear listener, and I will give it to you. I had grown in the fourteen months since my suicide. I rediscovered what it was like to take joy in life. I was happy now, in spite of everything that had happened, in spite of those who had died. I was finally happy with my life, I loved my new life.

I of course assumed things were going to get a lot easier with my third life. It wasn't about to though, things were about to get a lot harder. I was going to make new friends, human and pokemon. First though, I had to do what my mother did, and get someone to trust me. To trust humans again.

Yes, I was living my third life, but I still had to learn that life is never easy. It's never fair. I think that's something we have to learn many times my dear listener. Well, I started learning from my first day back.

* * *

When we left off, I'd been kissing Michael. He was warm, though his breath reeked of vomit. I didn't care though, I smelled like soot. I just wanted to stay like that forever.

So of course the first thing Michael did was try to push me off.

"Angela! How, how are you"

"You said not to leave you again, I'm not leaving you, now shut up" Michael pushed me back again.

"But you're dead, I saw you die! You're lying on my bed in a shoe box"

"It's not me, it's Robin! Now shut up" He pushed me back a third time. "Dang it, will you please stop trying to dodge a sexual encounter with an actual female?" Michael didn't respond, staring at me for a moment.

"R-Robin?" Oh boy.

"This will take a while" I said, sitting down on the bed. I looked down at the shoe box. "Who brought this?"

"An orderly" Michael said, "It was the only way I was going to calm down. If I could have you...or who I thought was you. Damn it Angela, what's going on?" Ugh, he had to ask that question, didn't he? I put a lid on the shoe box, moved it to the window seal, and buried my face in my hands, noticing for the first time my hands were surprisingly rough. Michael sat down beside me.

"Do you want the full version, or the abridged?" I asked. "We discussed some of my reborn life, but not all of it. I told you Enfer was my mother, but not all of that. I even mentioned Not Meowth once, but I didn't tell you what that meant"

"The abridged version will be fine" Michael said.

"Alright" I let out a breath, and began. "Well, as you know when I died, I met Mew who made a deal to bring me back as your Eevee. When we went to see Louis, I first met my mother, Enfer. Her real name was Anna, Anna Kendle. She was" I felt tears, paused, and stopped them from flowing. I would do that a lot. "She was the kindest woman I've ever known.

"I don't remember if I told you this about reborns, so I'm going to tell you again. When two reborns lock eyes, they see the moment of each others death, and sometimes a few seconds before. It's a blessing and a curse to be honest, it means any reborn will always know when another reborn is around. We're never alone.

"I didn't know this at the time though, I thought that me seeing my mother die was me going crazy"

"Well don't worry, your nutty as a fruit cake" Michael said. He kissed me on the side of my face. "But I love you anyways"

"Thanks" I said, "Now where was I? Oh yes. Enfer and I traveled with you, Enfer though didn't talk to me much. She tried to stay away from me. We picked up Rush, and eventually ended up in Rustburo. That is where I met Not Meowth.

"I've told you about Not Meowth, but not how I met him. I met him in the ally beside the Rustburo police station. He froze time in order to talk to me, though at the time I thought it was a dream. We met over and over again, and I've learned from him that Not Pokemon are the guardians of reborns. Every reborn has one, not every reborn meets theirs though. I guess I was lucky, but I was also unlucky.

"For good, their must be evil. I never would have guessed it had to be this evil though. Not Milotic first appeared to me when I was depressed, and gave me the chance to become human again. I agreed, and she brought me to a warped and twisted world, you were a reborn, many of our friends were dead, and I was traveling with Robin. At first I thought she brought me to this new world because she cared, it was only after I refused her offer I saw the real Not Milotic. The vein, selfish, and destructive one.

"Not Milotic was who was helping the man who tried to kill us. His name was Jerry Tagger. Enfer was my mother, and he was my father"

"Your father!? Angela, I"

"Will not shut up. Now let me finish! I don't know why Tagger wanted me dead, but he tried and tried. He killed Virgil, he shot up the stadium, but it doesn't matter. He's dead now. We beat him.

"Tagger killed my mother though. As she lay dying, she asked me for one thing" I sighed. "She asked me to go to Johto, to find...my sister" I looked up at him. "I have a sister Michael" He seemed to freeze for a moment.

"What's her name?"

"My mother named her Christina" I said, "But she could be named anything for all I know. We can talk about that later, let me finish my story.

"When I pushed you out of the way, I did die. I died, and I ended up in a world between life and death called the Macroverse. Not Meowth then more or less took me on a tour of it, until we came to the third part of it, Creation. Robin was there, waiting for me.

"Robin had decided she didn't have anything else in her life. Nothing to live for, no where to go, no one who loved her. She said she wanted to give her life to someone who did have people who loved her, so she gave it to me.

"Not Meowth rewrote history. I never died, was never reborn. Robin died instead, she was your Eevee. Everything else happened more or less the same way, but the only ones who remember are any pokemon who met me as a pokemon, and...you" I sighed. "Abridged version done" Michael collapsed back on the bed, and I joined him a second later.

"So, you've got a sister in Johto?" Michael sighed. "You know what this means?"

"Yeah" I said, "We're going to Johto" He sighed again, then smiled.

"Well, if I were going to go to Johto with anyone, I'd want to go with you" Michael said, turning to me. He was mustering a very warm smile.

"Thanks Michael" I whispered. I moved in to kiss him, and much to both of our surprise, I licked him across the nose.

"....You're not an Umbreon now"

"Sorry"

* * *

I fell asleep in Michaels arms a few minutes later. We were both so tired, fourteen months non-stop. When I finally woke up for the first time, it was noon.

"Still human" I whispered. My body felt heavy, and the light burned into my brain. I liked it though, it meant I had arms again, and two legs. Two humans legs with two human feet.

I spent a moment just remembering how to use my arms. It took another minute, but I was able to push myself back up.

"Hey" I turned, to see Michael sitting on the chair across from my bed. "I was just watching you sleep" He smiled. "You're really cute when you sleep"

"Thanks" I said, grinning. "This was the first really good nights sleep I had in a long time" I pulled myself off of the bed, and saw the shoe box missing. "...Where is Robin" Michael frowned.

"They don't have a cemetery" Michael said, "They offer burials at sea, they let you take the body, or they offer a third option"

"Which is?" He shook his head.

"I don't want say" Michael said, "You'll learn soon enough. For now though, let's go and see the others"

"The...others?"

"They'll want to see you now" Michael said, "We've got a lot of explaining to do"

* * *

Rush, Pecha, Trish, and Streak were awake when Michael entered. Rush and Streak turned, getting all excited. Pecha ignored him, Trish cried. Then I entered, and they all froze.

"Hello guys" I said. "I know you don't know who I am, but I am Angel. The Umbreon, your friend. I'm-I'm human"

"How are you human?" Rush asked, a smile on my face.

"Well, it's a long story" I said. "In fact, really to long to try and explain. The point is I'm here now, I'm alive and I'm human"

"You were dead?" Pecha asked. "Did you see something that would help increase the brilliance that is Chu!"

"Did you see Flash?" Trish cried out. "Where is he? What's happening to him?" Oh boy.

"I didn't see Flash" I said, "In fact, I've got no idea what happened to Flash. He was already gone by the time I got there. He's okay though, I'm sure of it" Trish teared up.

"You really really really think so?" She asked in a raspy voice.

"I know so" I whispered. Streak looked me up and down for just a moment. "Can I help you with something?"

"You were an Umbreon?" He asked. "I don't remember an Umbreon in the group. You'd think I would"

"I don't know you that well, so I don't think anything" I said.

"You will know me though" Streak mumbled.

"Angela" Michael said.

"Not now" I said. "Now, who has a question? That has nothing to do with the fact I'm human again?"

"What do we do now?" Trish asked.

"We go to Johto" I said, "Far away from Hoenn, across the ocean. Their is someone waiting for me there. I need to find her, just to talk to her. I have a lot of questions I need to ask her"

"Who is she?" Rush asked, with a happy and oblivious voice.

"She's...my sister" I said. "My sister I had in Johto. She doesn't even know I exist. It's kind of funny actually"

"Not really" Streak said.

"Well I have to laugh or break down sobbing"

"ANGELA!" Michael cried out. I sighed.

"What is it Michael?" I asked. He smirked.

"Well, you were talking to all of them"

"So?"

"Angela, what species are you?" Michael asked. "The others are pokemon"

"...Holy crap" I cried out, "Did, I mean, I was talking to them?"

"That was the odd part" Michael said, "I couldn't understand what you were saying. It didn't come out in any human language"

"What did it come out as?"

"Well, you saying Umbreon. Just Umbreon, saying it over and over again"

* * *

"I can still talk to pokemon" I said. "How is that even possible?" Michael had been cleared to leave the hospital, and now I was seated in the lobby. Michael was off, somewhere. Trish, Streak, Rush, and Pecha sat in a chair beside me.

"I think it's neat!" Rush said happily.

"You think that bubbles in soda are neat" I pointed out. Rush giggled, but I didn't hear it. "I can drink soda again. I can drink it, and it won't be toxic to me! This is...strange" The four of them continued to yammer, but I didn't notice. Instead, I turned my attention to a PC.

As if moved by an unknown force, I was floating over to the PC. I paused in front of it, before shaking my head.

"No, I could only use it if I had" I reached into my pocket, and felt a familiar metal contraption. "A pokedex. Oh God" I pulled it out. Flipping open, I got my first look at me.

"Never been in a battle" I said, "Never caught a pokemon. Only ever had one" I looked at the PC. "A Treecko" Without a second thought, I flipped on the PC, opening it to my box. One pokemon, Treecko, level 5., female. I clicked the button to withdraw.

The pokeball appeared in a small metal slot, and I grabbed it. Their was a small, leaf insignia on the ball, a sign of a starter ball. I walked back to my seat, this time I was definitely moving.

"I could let you out right now" I whispered, as I sat down in my chair. "I've finally managed to calm my life down for the first time in fourteen months. I don't want trouble, I want things to be calm. You'll hate Robin for imprisoning me, and you'll hate me in return, for not stopping her" I sighed.

"On the other hand, what right do I have? You deserve to breathe air again, to see sun light" I brought the ball to my face. "You're going to hate me so much. I promise though, I will work so hard to get you to trust me" I released the ball on my lap.

As I released the Treecko, I was still under the impression all of my life's major problems were over. I was wrong, dead wrong.

* * *

Far away from Hoenn, plans were already in motion. In a large room stood ten figures, clothed in yellow robes. They stood in a U shape in front of a large table, where an eleventh figure sat. Behind each of them was a torch, the only light sources in the entire room.

The eleventh figure was different then the others. He was clothed in a silver robe, eyes closed, in deep meditation. On his hands were two purple gloves, and six jeweled rings.

"They are coming" The silver robed figure said. "They will arrive in Johto in four days. They will meet the Zangoose there. Soon they will meet the Painter, and the Collector. We will begin acting then"

"Chrono Grek, are we...ready?" One of the yellow robed figures asked. This one was a male, Elder Haggert.

"Of course we are ready" Chrono Grek said, "We have been ready for this day since the serpent in the sun first contacted me. It has selected each of you for this mission, to begin the cleansing of the earth. The serpents chosen Emissary, the man Tagger, has been killed by the twin daemons. His child, Taggers Heir, has been selected to be the new Emissary. They will kill the twin daemons"

"Then we will begin the grand cleansing?" Another yellow robed figure asked. This one was female, Elder Brend. Chrono Grek nodded.

"The serpent will require sacrifices" Grek said, "At least ten. Human, they will give her power to override minds of pokemon. Every sacrifice will cause her to gain power, remember every sacrifice is a victory for us"

"We understand our ageless Chrono" The ten Elders said in unison. "We are of the sun. The sun shall prevail"

"The sun shall prevail" Grek said, a smile crossing his face. "Prepare for the cleansing, until then you are all dismissed"


	2. Brand New World

**II: Brand New World**

I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened her pokeball. On one hand, I expected her to hate me, even though Robin had imprisoned her, she would hate me by proxy. Simply because Robin was no longer here.

On the other hand, she may just be grateful to be out of the ball. To see how things had change in the amount of time she had been cooped up. I just had to hope their was more of the latter then the former.

What I did not expect though was for her to be asleep. The Treecko emerged on my lap, curled up in a ball. Her small legs were pulled against her chest, and she was breathing softly. Beside me the three pinheads and Trish chirped wildly, but this didn't wake her.

Slowly, I placed the ball down and scooped the Treecko up in both of my hands. This did wake her up, as she slowly cracked open on eye to look around. Not seeing the inside of a pokeball got both eyes open, and her on her feet"

"Hello little girl" I said, causing her to flip around to see me. She paused for a moment, I could hear her growling.

"Who are you!?" She snarled. Her tail flailed up, "Answer me now, or I will break you" I know she was mad, I know she had been imprisoned for a year, but it took all of my energy not to burst out laughing.

"I believe you" I said, smiling. "My name is Angela, Angela Duncan" Her little eyes bulged out of her skull even more, and she jumped back. Luckily, I grabbed her before she fell off.

"How do you know what I'm saying!?" Treecko shrieked. "You're human, you can't know! You can't! How long have I been in that damn ball!? Where is Robin?" The last one was the only one not shrieked.

"Robin is...gone" I said. "She's given me to you" Treecko's expression changed, shock to dull lack of interest.

"I'm...I'm not sad" Treecko said. "Why aren't I sad? I need to be sad about this. I'm...I'm not anything"

"I don't know, why aren't you mad?" I said. "You were in that pokeball for fourteen months. You've lost over a year of your life, and I'm sorry" Treecko's eyes clouded over, as she attempted to process this info.

"A year? I lost a freaking year? Why?" Treecko sat down. "Why did Robin abandon me?" Great, I get to tell her the truth. Best to just bite the bullet and let her know.

"Robin didn't want you" I said, "Robin was a good person, she just...she wasn't a perfect person. I'm sorry about that, she did do a lot of good things in her life. Especially for me. She sacrificed for me, and for that I'm grateful"

"She abandoned me" Treecko said. I nodded, though I don't know why. It's not like she needed me to tell her she'd been abandoned just because Robin didn't want her. "She's not the first. My mother gave me up, the fat man paraded me in front of trainers who didn't want me so many times I lost count, what does it matter?" Treecko looked up at me. "So you're my trainer now huh?"

"Yeah, I guess I am" I said, "I hope we get along" Treecko laughed. "What's the matter?"

"You'll abandon me" Treecko replied.

"I will not!" I said, surprised at the implication. "Why would I abandon you?"

"Everyone does" Treecko said. "You're honestly trying to tell me you'll be different? I thought Robin would be different, and the first night, the very first night, she told me she only took me because she couldn't get a Mudkip. I freaking hate Mudkip! Do you know how many times I had to watch as a Torchic and a Mudkip got taken, and I had to just wait!? Did you know the only reason the fat man had even taken me to give out as a starter was because the last Treecko he had was washed away in a flood?"

"....Shut up" I snapped. Both Treecko and I froze after I snapped that, and both because we couldn't believe I had said it. To late, I couldn't shut up now. "I'm sorry, okay. I understand though, I know what its like to be abandoned"

"For a year?" She asked.

"Try sixteen" I said. "When I was four years old I had learned how to take a bus to the hospital to have my stomach pumped, just in case the Drunken Duncans fed me alcohol. When I was six, I had to deal with the fact I wasn't having a birthday because my parents were on a binge. I didn't get my trainers license when I was ten because they wouldn't sign the release form, if they did I'd be far away from them. When I was sixteen...I got hurt real bad, and they didn't care. Yeah, I know what it's like to be all alone" Treecko sighed.

"I'm sorry" She said. "I've never met anyone who knows what it's like to be alone all the time. I've never actually met any humans aside from you, fat man, and Robin. The only pokemon I ever met were the occasional Mudkip, Torchic, and my mother"

"You knew your mother?" I asked.

"Not well" Treecko said. "I was born in a breeding center. I was hatched spent maybe a day with my mother, then was captured in that, that damn ball" I picked up the ball, and Treecko began shaking. "Keep it away!"

"Don't worry" I said, touching the small lever on the back. I flipped it, and suddenly Treecko was bathed in a blue light. "I'm not going to let it hurt you"

"What was that?" Treecko asked.

"The switch used to release a pokemon from their ball permanently" I said. I pitched the pokeball at the trash can a few seats down from me. It missed, bounced against the linoleum, and rolled away. "Damn it"

"You released me?" The Treecko asked.

"Your choice" I said. "You can do what ever you want. You can travel with me, or I can find you some woods somewhere for you to go off into. Either way, no more balls, never again. I promise you that much" My throat felt dry as I tried to speak these words, they hurt to say. It was a good kind of hurt though, the kind that when it quits hurting, you feel a lot better.

Treecko stood there, thinking it over for a moment. She smiled for a brief second, only to have it vanish again. I saw the smile though, I knew for one second she was happy.

"If I travel with you" Treecko said, "What's in it for me?" With those words, I knew she was going to go with me. She just, I think she liked talking to me.

"Well, if you travel with me" I said, grinning as I spoke, "You'll get to travel with my group. They're sitting right beside you, but haven't noticed yet. They're like that, it's a long story. The point is, you'd travel with me, my friends, and my...Michael"

"Your Michael?" Treecko asked, "What's a Michael?"

"Good question" I mumbled. "He's someone, a human like me. You'll meet him in a little while. If you traveled with me, I promise I'd train you. I'd help you get stronger, maybe even to the point that you'd evolve"

"You'd help me become a Sceptile?" She asked, honest amazement in her voice.

"Uh, yeah I would" I replied, surprised by her surprise. "You see, I've never trained a pokemon before. This whole thing, it's a new experience for me. I'd...I'd love for you to be there with me"

"Don't worry" Treecko said, "You've sold me on this Ms. Angela"

"It's just Angela, theirs no Miss" I said, "And now that I think about it, I don't know your name"

"I don't know how you're able to talk to me, we'll call it even okay?" Treecko said. I frowned. "What?"

"You don't have a name, do you?" Treecko sighed, and shook her head.

"No, as a matter of fact I don't have a name" Treecko said, "Thank you for reminding me of that fact" Ugh, mental head slap.

"Do you want a name?" I asked, "Or should I just keep calling you Treecko?" She shrugged.

"I guess what ever you pick. I can over rule it though"

"If you've only ever heard the names of trainers, and the generic names they give their pokemon" I said, "How will you determine if the name I give you is bad?"

"...Damn it" I giggled. "Shut up"

"Sorry" I said. "How about..." I had actually once had a list of names for pokemon when I became a trainer, but right now I couldn't remember any of them. I could remember one name, a name I shouldn't have used. I had to though, just as a tribute.

"Anna" My voice cracked as I spoke, but I didn't cry. I paused, before speaking again. "I'm going to name you Anna"

"Anna?" She asked. "Anna? I...I like it. I know you do" She looked up at me. "Who was Anna?"

Oh boy.

"You don't know me well enough" I said, "You don't trust me enough, and I don't know you. Maybe later, a few months later. For now...it's a long story. I promise you I will explain it later" Anna nodded.

"So, what do you want now?" I asked. "Do you want food, want to sleep, what do you want? Please help me"

"Angela?" We both flipped to see Michael. He was holding a silver canister, the lid secured with three clamps. "Who is this? I was trying to listen, but I don't speak Umbreon"

"Michael" I said, standing up. "This...This is Anna"

"Anna? You mean" I nodded. Michael looked down and smiled. He attempted to touch Anna, maybe stroke her head, but she back up as his finger came near.

"Please stop" Anna whispered. I translated, then smacked Michael upside the head.

"Owe! What was that for?"

"For being a dumb ass" I replied. "She doesn't want to be touched, so don't freaking touch her you twat" I looked down at the silver canister. "What is that?"

"An industrial strength urn" Michael said.

"You mean....Crap! Oh crap, you, you don't put that near me okay" I said.

"We needed to move her body, I didn't know what to do, so I figured"

"Explain it later!" I cried out. "Right now, just keep it away from me!"

* * *

Michael got a call later that our flight had been bumped up to tomorrow. Which is kind of good, considering that the hospital kicked us out for no longer being sick. I had noticed Michael's parents hadn't shown up, and neither had the police to talk to us, which I suspect was because of a small, reality jumping Meowth.

"We want to meet her" Rush said, "We're nice people"

"We can probably help her" Streak said. "We're happy people"

"Well she doesn't want to meet you" I said, "Not for a little while. You guys are going to have to travel in Johto in your balls. I'm sorry about that, but we've already got to buy Anna her own ticket. You guys can travel for free in your balls"

"Why doesn't Anna have a ball?" Pecha cried, "Pecha smells a conspiracy!"

"You haven't even met Anna rodent" Trish growled in return.

"Pecha will burn the shine off your skin fowl death bird!" Pecha hammed, while posing. Trish just shook her head, and went to sleep. "Yes, Pecha showed her" I made a mental note Pecha hadn't mentioned New Chu anything in days.

"Look, she's just anxious" I said, "I promise, once we're in Johto, I'll begin convincing her to talk to you. She'll be traveling with us, I'm sure she'll warm up over time" With that, I left the four of them alone, and returned to my and Michael's room.

Michael was in the chair, Anna on the bed. She was on my pillow asleep, curled up in a ball. I sat down on the bed, and looked over at Michael.

"How are they taking it?"

"Rush and Streak want to meet Anna" I said, "Pecha wants to travel outside of her ball. Trish...hell if I know, Trish is hurting. I don't know what to do though, I can barely help myself. I just want to help Anna right now, like how my momma helped me"

"I know you do" Michael said, smiling. He looked tired, but all his stuff was already packed and beside the urn. "We can think about it tomorrow, I'm about to fall asleep"

"You know, you can join me on the bed" I said, "Their is plenty of room" Michael seemed to consider it, but shook his head. "Alright, if you're sure" With that, I got onto the bed, and curled up into a ball myself.

"Angela, you're human again" Crap

"I know I am" I said, trying to save face, "I just like sleeping this way, it's good for the back" If good means, will probably snap the spine like a twig. I lasted about a minute in a ball before uncurling, falling asleep a second later.

* * *

"I've never been out of Hoenn before" I said, "Now I'm leaving for a country I've never seen, to look for a girl who may or may not exist"

"I'm happy for you also Angela" Michael said, smiling. The airport out of Ever Grande is not on Ever Grande. It's on an island almost a mile away, one almost as big as Ever Grande, but not raised out of the water. We had gotten up early to catch the ferry here, and had about an hour to make our flight.

"Since we didn't have to spend any money I made while on my journey" Michael continued, "I figure we've got enough left over to live well in Johto for a few months. If I engage in any battles while there, we'll get some more"

"If you? What about me?"

"Angela, you've only got one pokemon"

"Technically, so do you" I said. Michael nodded solemnly. He was carrying the urn, something that made me uncomfortable.

"Lets just get on our flight, we'll figure it out later" As we moved down the sidewalk, we walked past a cement planter. I paused, grabbing Michaels arm. "What?"

"Do you see what I see?" I turned his head, to see a boy laying in the cement planter. He had on only a torn up pair of shorts, no shirt. His body was scratched, and oddly white. His hair was thick and red, his face strong. What drew your attention though were the sunglasses on his face, sunglasses I had seen before.

"What?" I shook my head.

"It's Virgil" I replied.


	3. Virgil

**III: Virgil**

"Virgil?" Michael asked, "As in, Lisa's Zangoose Virgil?" I nodded rapidly. "Uh, Angela. That's a teenage boy"

"And I was an Umbreon, times change, you roll with it" I replied, rushing over to Virgil. He was asleep in the cement planter, and no one had decided to remove him from it. No one was going near the strange, shirtless boy in the planter. I ran over though, wondering if he would recognize me.

"Virgil?" I whispered. I pushed on him gently. "Virgil" I pushed again. "Virgil" I slammed my fist down hard on his stomach, or at least tried. One arm shot out and grabbed my fist.

"Do not think because your opponent is asleep he is vulnerable" Virgil said to me. Slowly, he pushed himself up, to get a view of me and Michael. "...You are the boy who was traveling with Ms. Lisa. You, you are" My eyes and his sunglasses connected, and it was enough.

I could see it all again, that night in the woods, Tagger, Tagger shooting Virgil in the head. I'm sure he could see my death, or deaths as the case may be. He cocked his head, seemingly thinking about something.

"You are Angela" He stated.

"Yes! Yes I am, you remember me!" I paused. "Don't you want to know how I ended up human"

"No" A man of many words is Virgil. "Where is Ms. Lisa and your mother?" Just to remind you my dear listener, Virgil was Lisa's last pokemon for a long time, and considered himself her guardian. He also fell in love with my mother, becoming her lover before being killed by Tagger.

"It really is him" I heard Michael whisper from behind me. "Of course it is, my life wasn't crazy enough" Silly Michael, trying to inject logic into this. What he didn't know was he was lucky enough to not have to tell Virgil the truth.

"Virgil...Lisa is. Oh Christ, Lisa is...and my mother is...they're dead" I waited for Virgil to scream, or cry, or explode with anger. Instead, he nodded.

"Alright" He stood up. "Then I will guard you and Michael now"

"...Excuse me?" I asked.

"With Ms. Lisa gone, and your mother gone, then I will guard the two of you. You were also attacked by the man in the mask"

"He's dead" I said, "He's gone, blew the back of his head clean off"

"Their are other threats out there" Virgil said. "I made my decision"

"Then unmake it!" I cried, "And why aren't you upset? Be mad!"

"I will be upset later" Virgil replied. "I will not change my mind. I will guard the two of you. My task is my life, I do not fail" I buried my head in my hands, it would be easier to argue with a brick wall.

"Why were you waiting here?" Michael asked.

"When I was reborn, I awoke on the shore of the island of this airport" Virgil replied. When I found out the purpose of this place, I decided to wait for you. Logically, when you prepared to leave Ever Grande, you would take a flight out, since the boats only go back to Lillycove. The flight would take you anywhere you wished to go"

"But you were waiting for months!" Michael cried.

"It wasn't that long" Virgil replied.

"What if we had taken a boat out?" Michael asked, "What then"

"I was prepared to live here for the rest of my life" Their actually is something comforting about talking with someone who sees everything in such terms of black and white. Comforting and scary.

"Better question, you just washed up on the shore" Michael said, "You have no idea why you're in a teenager body, and who your human family might be. What if they miss you?"

"Then they miss me, I do not miss them. When my work is finished, then I will track them"

"When will your work be done?" I asked.

"When I wait in hell" Virgil replied. I took a step back from him. "When do we leave" This wasn't a question, it was his way of letting us know he was coming with us.

"You're not" Michael said, "Not because we don't want you" We didn't, "But because we've only got enough tickets for me, Angela, and Anna"

"You said Enfer was"

"Anna is my Treecko" I said. "I named her after...after my mother" Virgils face twitched.

"She would have been proud" He said, an emotion creeping into his voice. That evaporated though almost instantly. "Despite you not having a ticket, I will find a way there"

"How will you?"

"Never you mind" Virgil said. "Trust me"

* * *

Our flight took off later then expected, but not to late. Once we were inside the airport, we didn't see Virgil again. By the time our plane had taken off, Michael had almost forgotten what Virgil had said. I on the other hand, had not.

"So how will he do it?" I asked. I buckled Anna into her seat, coming to the realization that the seatbelt was half the size of her.

"How will who do what?" Michael asked, head between his knees.

"How will Virgil make it onto this plane, and what on earth are you doing?" I asked. Michael sighed, and mumbled something. "What?"

"I'm praying not to die" Michael mumbled. "Oh God, I think I'm going to hurl"

"Good thing they give you bags for that" I said. "Michael, what is wrong?"

"It's just that...that we're so high up" He replied. His voice was cracking, and sounded dry. "I don't like being high up"

"Yeah, you kind of have to be high up. Flight wouldn't be much good if you were on the ground. Why are you scared of flying?" I asked

"Not flying, that part doesn't bother me" Michael wheezed, flying is just moving from point A. to point B. It's the being high up, that bothers me. I really need to be on the ground" I sighed, grabbed his bandanna, and jerked him upright. Michael let out a little yelp, as all the color and masculinity drained from his face.

"Stop whining" I said, "You need to calm down. We didn't come this far to die in a plane crash. So just be quiet and calm down, nothing will happen to us" Michael nodded, gripping the arms of his seat for dear life. I sighed. "A little calmer Michael"

"I wanna die"

"Still not calm enough" I said. "Lets think about something else, like how in the hell am I going to find Chris"

"What do we know about her?" Michael asked.

"Well, she was put up for adoption at the New Hope adoption agency in New Bark" I said, "And...she's two years older then me. That's it, I've got nothing else to help me. Who ever adopted her could have taken her to a whole knew continent, and I could be more effective by just sitting here with my thumb up my butt. I do know that I will force New Hope to tell me everything they know"

"First of all, adoption records are always sealed by the courts in Johto, I looked that up at the hospital" Michael said, "Second, even if they weren't, that isn't the kind of information you just give to someone who walks off the street. Third, we've got limited resources to find Chris"

"What do you mean? I thought you had a lot of money because you never spent money when traveling with Louis" Michael grinned sheepishly. "Michael?"

"Well, it turns out these tickets were a tad more expensive then I thought they would be. Also doesn't help that they talked me into getting first class tickets without me knowing I was getting them"

"Michael, how much money do we have?"

"I think we may actually owe money when all is said and done" I sighed.

"Of course we do" I mumbled. "Then their is only one answer. We're short on money, so we need to enter the Johto league"

"....Tell me how this makes sense?" Michael asked. "We are not here to enter any league, or for you to live out your fantasy as a trainer. We are going to find your sister, nothing more. No league"

"All I heard was bla-bla-bla sister, bla-bla league" I replied.

"Angela, if we did have enough money, would you still want to only find your sister?" I paused. "Angela"

"Maybe" I said with a small grin. "Alright, I've thought about it since getting Anna out of her ball. I just...didn't know when to spring this idea on you"

"So you figured the best time would be when the idea would hit me like an out of control ice-cream truck?" Michael asked.

"Something like that" I said. "Look, I know you don't agree, but you've already gotten to do your trainer thing. It's my turn, I want to do it now. I've wanted to be a trainer since I was a little girl. I wanted to be champion of Hoenn, and that's clearly not going to happen. Besides, this would be a great bonding activity with my sister"

"What would be?" Michael asked, "Dragging her on a journey she doesn't want to go on, with people she doesn't know, as you battle for personal glory?"

"More or less" I replied. "Look, I'm going to do this Michael. I'm going to do it if you say yes, or if you say no. If I spend all of my time looking for my sister, I'm going to be crazy when I can't find her. I want this Michael, damn it I need this!" If I posed, I could have challenged Pecha for the tittle of hammiest speech ever. Michael put his face in his hands.

"I guess it doesn't matter if I say no" He asked as he turned to me.

"I think this will help things" I said, kissing him.

"Yeah, it does"

* * *

The plane set down after a way to long flight. We could have taken a boat to Johto, but we wouldn't have been in New Bark and if I took another ocean vehicle, I was going to throw up.

"Why is the sun still up?" I asked, as we walked out of the airport. Anna was in my hands, still asleep. "In fact, I think it's rising now! It was sunrise when we left!"

"Angela, when it's sunrise in Hoenn, it's night in Johto" Michael said, yawning as he spoke. "It was a ten hour flight. Guess what, we're in a different time zone!"

"Damn it" I mumbled, as I collapsed on a bench. "I need to sleep"

"You need to stay awake, at least until night time here" Michael said, eyes half closed. "You need to..."

"You both need to stay awake" A new voice said. We turned, to see Virgil standing behind us. He still wasn't wearing a shirt, was still in rags.

"How the hell did you get here?" Michael cried. Virgil cocked his eyebrow, his only response. "Of course"

"I am coming with both of you" Virgil said. Michael pushed himself off of the bench, as I oozed into it.

"Virgil, you are not going to protect us" Michael slurred. He stumbled backwards, trying desperately to stay up.

"Alright" Virgil hopped over the bench and me, in front of Michael. "If you can defeat me in unarmed combat, I will trust you enough to let you go on your own"

"No fair" Michael said, "I'm half asleep, your wide awake" Virgil folded both his arms behind his back.

"I will make it fair by not using my arms. You may make the first move" Michael nodded.

"Alright" He pulled his fist back, but before he could punch, Virgil head-butted him. Michael hit the ground, landing flat on his ass. Virgil responded with a swift kick to the face, causing Michaels head to hit the ground. Virgil then placed his legs around Michael's neck.

"If I move, I will break your neck" Virgil said in a flat voice. "You will surrender, or I will inflict more harm on you then could ever by measured" It was only when he stopped talking that he noticed Michael was snoring. "So be it" Virgil stomped on his chest, causing Michael to jerk to life.

"Ow! I give! I give" Michael moaned, pushing himself up. He stood up slowly, leaning on Virgil to steady himself. "Oh God, I think you cracked my ribs"

"Unlikely" Virgil said. "I have had eleven months to practice the function of my human body, I would be aware if I had broken any bones" If you want a smile and a hug, I think you'd be more likely to get it out of an axe murderer then Virgil.

"So, I suppose you want to know that we've decided to enter the Johto league" Michael said.

"Irrelevant, I am here to protect you. The purpose of your journey is of no importance" Virgil replied.

"Hey" I shouted, sitting up. "If we're going to go on this fun and magical journey together, is it to much to ask that you show an emotion?"

"I have expressed an emotion before" Virgil replied.

"Bullshit! You're as emotional as a pine tree. I want to see you smile! Doesn't anything make you smile" He paused (I think) thinking about it.

"The feeling of the blood of my enemies flowing through my claws, for then I know that my battle is won, my cause victorious"

"You should write greeting cards" Michael said. "Come on, help me get Angela up" They pulled me off the bench, despite my protest, and helped me move my legs.

"So this is Johto?" I asked, as we slowly walked through the throngs of people. "We get to spend the next several who knows how long looking for a girl who may no longer be here, with Virgil watching us every moment"

"You are aware that I can hear you, correct?" Virgil asked.

"Well, I know we have no money" Michael said, "I know we're out of place, I know that our cause may be futile, but it could always be worse"

"How so?" I asked, head drooping. They had put Anna on top of my head, and I had to balance her there. I could still see Michael grin though.

"You could be doing all of this as an Eevee" I burst out laughing.

Yes, the journey was going to be long and hard, but at least I wouldn't be an Eevee.


	4. Chrysanthemum Tea

**IV: Chrysanthemum Tea**

Despite Virgil's...standing there saying nothing, we decided we needed to check into a motel. If for no other reason then because we desperately needed sleep.

"I can barely stand up" Michael mumbled, "I need to sleep"

"Me to" I yawned.

"I haven't slept in three days, I am not in need of rest" Virgil said. He was holding both of us up, pushing us through the streets of New Bark.

"You're not human" I growled

"I am Zangoose" Virgil replied. Still not an emotion to be found on his face.

The sun was out, and with not a cloud in the sky, soaking us to the bone. I'd love to describe New Bark town to you, but I can't. All I remembed was their were a lot of people, because Virgil dragged us through them.

"We need a motel" Michael said, pushing Virgil off. He maneged to stand on his own two feet, though both legs were trembling. "...Where are we again?" I finally cracked my eyes open to see exactly where in the hell I was.

I was standing in an ally, behind several white buildings. Beside us was a cement wall, a little higher then me, running the length of the street.

"I decided to get us away from the crowds" Virgil said. "Threats could be following us"

"You are insane" I mumbled, pushing his arm off my shoulder. I instantly fell flat on my face. "Son of a" I pushed my self up, nose bleeding.

"It is irrelivent, I could not locate a place for you to sleep" Virgil said. Michael pointed sternly between two buildings. We looked, to see a large building across the street, with the words Pressman in big letters. "Yes, but going there would be giving into decidence"

"I'll give in" Michael said, grabbing me by my shoulder and dragging me along. We made it onto the street, but Virgil jerked both of us back as a truck zipped by. Michael growled out something like "Thanks"

Virgil stayed behind us as he guided us across the street, don't remember much of that. Suddenly, I'm standing in the hotel, and people are mulling all about. Michaels at the front counter.

"I'd like a room" Michael said. "Two beds"

"Well sir, we need"

"How much room will this get us?" Michael asked, pulling out a wad of multi-colored bills, the last of our cash. The receptionist, a woman with a bun so tight it cut off blood flow to her face, took one look and frowned.

"Is this Hoenn money sir?"

"Yeah, so?" She pushed the money off the counter, onto the floor.

"We do not except Hoenn money. We do not except pokemon outside of their balls, we do not except your friend over there with no shirt" Bitch, she probably took it in the ass.

Virgil came over, and pulled out a wallet? Where the hell had he gotten that from? He pulled out a bright blue bill, Johto money.

"One room, two beds" Virgil said. The woman's eyes practicly burst out of her skull, apparently a very high bill.

"Yes sir! For that, you can rent the"

"One room, two beds" Virgil said. The woman clacked on her computer, and slid Virgil a key card. "Sir, that Treecko the girl has will have to go in a ball, and you'll" Virgil put another bill down, "And you will have to have a nice day" Virgil then grabbed both of us, dragging us away.

"Alright, how?" I asked, as Virgil pushed us into a stair well.

"How what?"

"The money" Michael said, "Where did it come from?" Virgil began draggin us up the stairs.

"When I awoke on the island, the money and wallet were in my pocket. Where they came from is irrelivent. I used half of it already"

"For what?"

"Needed something to keep a fire going one night, used it" Virgil said.

"How much money did you burn!?"

"All but those two" Virgil repplied.

"You could have bought food, or a ticket somewhere else!" Michael cried.

"I had all I needed, excess is irrelivent" He pulled us into a hallway. After another minute of dragging we came to a door, 509. Virgil pulled it open. "If you wish to sleep, do so. I will stand gaurd"

"Gaurd from what?" Michael asked. Virgil wouldn't say a word though. Instead, he pressed his back against the door, standing still as a statue. "Ugh, I asked for two beds so he'd have one" I paused.

"Then that would mean...you expected" I paused, "For us to share a bed? Or?"

"You know Angela, it's been a long day, I'm tired, lets go to sleep" Michael said, blushing bright red.

* * *

"...Angela..."

_No, not now. Please not now. _My legs felt heavy, but I pumped them, running as hard as I could. It wouldn't matter though, they were every where.

The trees croweded around me, all ink black, branches criss-crossing above me, blotting out the moon. The wind blew, the trees creating a wind tunnle, cutting through my skin and into my bones. I couldn't stop though, I had to keep running.

"You can't escape us Angela"

"Wanna bet" I mumbled. The mud was hard as steel, cold as the air. No roots to avoid, no leaves on the ground. Nothing but mud, trees, and an endless run.

"It's time to go Angela! Come and die with us" I stumbled to a stop, as the ground began to grow in front of me. Some kind of round protusion appeared, exploding in a shower of icy dirt. In front of me stood Shu. "It's time Angela"

Not Shu, rotting Shu. Maggots fell out of the hole where his left eye should be, while his right eye was yellow. He smilled, missing teeth, missing part of his jaw. I could see ribs pressed against his fur, and sticking out from his under side. "You shouldn't be alive"

"No" The ground behind me exploded, and I could hear fluttering. Fluttering, or humming, like wings.

"You shouldn't be alive" Sharon whispered in my ear. I could feel her sour breath on my side, feet her fingers, scale and bone, grasping at my side. "You should join us, why should you have survived?"

"No" Now they came out of the ground, Nel, Flash, Lisa, L3. All around me, rotting, dead, in the ground, where I should be. "Get away from me, all of you get the hell away from me!"

"We'll leave when you join us" No, not him. Not that voice. I flipped, only to find a hand around my throat. A hand that lifted me off the ground, so I could see Tagger's smiling, rotting face. I kicked at his chest, but he laughed at this.

"It's time Angela" He began to squeeze, "It's time to die!"

"No! No! Gaaaaahhhh!"

"Angela!"

"Aaaaaahhhh! Get the fuck off of me! Get off you bastards!"

"Angela, I'm sorry" Suddenly, Tagger wasn't holding me by the throat, and my face stung. My eyes snapped open, to visions of blurs. The blurs cleared, and I was in bed. Michael sat on the edge, hand raised, he had slapped me awake.

"What the hell was that for!?" I snarled.

"I'm sorry Angela" Michael said, suddenly embracing me in a strong hug. "You were screaming, thrashing. I couldn't get you to wake up, Virgil went to get water to throw on you, but I figured this would be faster" He pulled back, looking at me. "What were you screaming about?" I finally felt warm in Michaels arms, my heart slowing back down to normal.

"It was...I don't know" I whispered. "I can't remember, I was just scared. Extremely scared"

"Are you sure?" Michael asked, brushing some hair out of my eyes. I nodded quickly. "Al-alright"

"What time is uh, it?" I whispered. Michael smilled.

"Eight fifteen a.m. You've been asleep for almost twenty hours" This got me going.

"Twe-twenty hours?" I kicked at the bed sheets. "I need to get up, we have to register!"

"Yeah, about that" Michael held me down, despite my squirming. "We can't register untill tomorrow, unlike Hoenn, Johto only allows new trainers to register once every four months. Like I said, we got lucky, we can register tomorrow. We have to do it tomorrow, if we screw up, we're stuck here for four months"

"Al-alright, then" Suddenly, the door open. Virgill came in, holding a small paper cup in one hand, and a bucket of water in the other. He looked at me.

"You're awake" He turned, and tossed the bucket, water and all, into the hall way, before shutting the door. "We will not need that"

"What's in the cup?" I asked.

"Crysanthemum tea" Virgil said. "I drink it, it calms me"

"The only way you could be any more calm would be if you were a statue" I mumbled. "Anna, where is Anna?"

"She's right here" Michael said, walking over to the window, where a pillow had been sat. "I was worried you might roll over onto her, so I moved her. I hope you don't mind"

"No, thanks" I sat up, and walked over to the sleeping Treecko. Except, she wasn't sleeping, she was curled up in a ball, trembling. "Anna? Anna, wake up" I slowly stroked her back, untill she opened her eyes.

"I-I heard you screaming, I got scared, I-I"

"Shhhh, don't worry, it's alright. It was just a nightmare, nothing to worry you. I swear" Anna smilled softly at this. "I won't have another nightmare anytime soon" I was wrong though, oh boy was I wrong.

As I talked to Anna, two more people who would play parts in my journey through Johto talked. What I didn't know was that one room above us was two people. Two people who would change my life, with out my ever knowing it.

* * *

"Hold still Iggy" The first girl said, struggling with a Chinchou. She was desperately trying to balance the little water-type on top of the TV set.

"He never holds still" The other girl said. She sat on the bed, shuffling two shrunken pokeballs in-between the fingers of her left hand. In her right hand she held a seven shot revolver, spinning it occasionally.

"Yes, but he needs to. Today I create my masterpiece!" Iggy finally stopped squirming, and the girl moved over to a canvas set up in front of the TV set. "White! A blank page? Or canvas?"

"Why do you always say that?" The second girl asked. "Is it for good luck?"

"The challenge is to bring order to the whole. Composition, balance, tension, tone, all these things will come through design!"

"Seriously, why the little speech? If I'm not here, do you give it to the walls?" The first girl looked at the other, smirking.

"Wouldn't you like to know" The first girl was short, shorter then the other, and chubby. Her blond hair was shoulder length, but streaked with purple, black, green, and silver. She had used enough eye liner that it looked like she had two black eyes. She wore two shirts, a skirt, a pair of pants, all different colors and patterns, none matching, making her look like she had stepped on a land mine in a used clothing shop. Around her neck was a dog collar with her name on it.

"Desiree, What I'd like to know is what will make this picture any better then the 40 other of that damn Chinchou you've painted. The last one you destroyed with a power saw, and you said it would be your masterpiece!" The second girl was much taller, and thin to the point of resembling a stick figure. She wore a denim skirt and vest, with a top underneath that had a hypno swirl painted on it. Her hair was ginger colored, and cut short. Around her waist was a belt with over twenty pokeballs attached to it, and a slot to hang her revolver on.

"Because this one will be different Charlotte!" Desiree said, "I just know it will be! Now, go over tomorrows itinerary with me again" Desiree wasn't yet painting, instead running a dry brush over the blank canvas.

"We need to find actual trainers" Charlotte said, "Because of that damn Olivine incident, my license has been revoked, and I'm on probation. The only way I can continue to be a capture specialist is if I travel with an actual licensed trainer, at least for the next year. So, we need to find an actual trainer to travel with. Given that tomorrow is registry day, this shouldn't be to difficult"

"The difficult part is finding someone who would willingly take two complete strangers with them on their journey" Desiree said. "Tell me, suppose you don't find anyone, and don't get your license back. How long will our cash reserves last?"

"Long enough for me to return you to that boarding school I broke you out of" Charlotte replied.

"Of course. You do realize if my parents find me, and find out you helped me escape, you'll never get your license back

"The thought had crossed my mind" Charlotte said. "Which is why they can't know I helped you escape"

* * *

"Since registration is tomorrow" Michael said, "What do you say you and I explore New Bark. It's not often your in a place like this" I shrugged, and smiled.

"Sure, why not. We can have some fun maybe" What I didn't know was as we spoke, we were being watched.

Outside of our room was a tall tree, a Murkrow sat watching us. Around its neck was a small collar with a small camera, broadcasting live feed of us. Across town, inside the Tabernacle of the Sun building, Chrono Grek watched us, a smile on his face.

"It's time" He whispered, "I'm ready"

"So am I' Not Milotic whispered from behind Grek.


	5. Meeting the Group

**V: Meeting the Group**

The very first thing we did was go to the New Hope Adoption Agency, who were still listed in the phone book that the hotel had. The phone book though was five years old, meaning we could have saved ourselves a trip if we had just called the number.

"I don't get it, this is where it's supposed to be" I said.

"And yet" The building in front of us was empty, though not dilapidated. It looked like it had been abandoned for a few months. Michael held me, letting me lean against him, because if he didn't hold me up the disappointment would knock me on my ass. "Just for the record, they wouldn't exactly let us look at the adoption records"

"I know" I said, "I just wanted to know where they were. I planned to break in later tonight, with Virgil" Michael opened his mouth, but closed it, shaking his head.

"I would have been more then capable" Virgil replied.

"I don't doubt it" Michael said, "Alright, I looked up Johto adoption back at the hospital. Their are two sets of records, one kept by the agency, one kept by the courts. Both are sealed, though can be unsealed at the request of a judge. Well, the one kept by the courts is destroyed when the adopted turns 18. You said your sister is two to three years older then you"

"Which would definitely make her 18" I said with a sigh. "Why do the courts destroy their copy, and not the adoption agency?"

"I dunno, because the universe deeply wants to annoy us?" Michael asked. "Look, lets just try and figure out where the agency ended up"

* * *

We next headed to the library, since our hotel required us to pay for internet usage, something we could not do on account of lack of funds. Of course Michael was ever determined to bring me down, so as soon as we entered the library, he reminded me of something.

"You generally need a library card to use the internet" Michael said, "And we don't have one" The long row of computer banks was full of people, every computer in use.

"Okay, we'll just ask for someone to let us borrow one" I said. I walked up to a boy on the end. "Can we borrow your card and use the internet?"

"Piss off!" Virgil gently pushed me out of the way, then grabbed the boy by the back of the neck. He lifted him out of the chair, and spun him around, the boy kicking the entire time.

"She asked politely" Virgil said, "Apologize"

"Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!"

"Thank you. She will use your card, we will not take long" Virgil set the boy on the ground, and he took off. Surprisingly, no one looked up at this. "He will alert someone, we have one minute, look quickly"

"No problem" A quick search for New Hope Adoption Agency got me the result I needed. "New Hope Agency, located in...Olivine City! Originally located in New Bark, moved six years ago" I sighed. "It can never be simple, can it?"

"Olivine City" Michael mumbled. "No, it can't be"

* * *

"Olivine City is far away from here" Virgil said, "Why not head straight there?" It was about a half an hour later, and we were sitting in New Bark Park.

"Even if I didn't want to do the gym challenge, we couldn't" I said.

"We have no money, we have enough for some supplies, and that's about it" Michael said. "If we can win some battles, we can get some cash. Of course, we would have money if you hadn't burned it all, Why on earth did you do that anyways?"

"Money is irrelevant, warmth is what matters" Virgil said, "You do not need money, water is available in the woods, if you need food you kill it and eat it"

"Ew, no" I said. "I'll train Anna, she'll be strong and...where is Anna?" Anna had been sitting on my lap, but she had vanished. In a park full of people she had vanished. "Crap!"

I stood up and took off running. I couldn't exactly start calling out her name since the last thing I needed was people thinking I was crazy. Luckily Anna was on a tree only a few feet away from where I had been sitting.

Anna was climbing the front of the tree, belly pressed against the bark. Her eyes were closed and their was a smile on her face. "...Anna?"

"It smells real" Anna whispered.

"Uh, okay? What does that mean?" She sighed happily.

"That pokeball created a fake forest, I don't know how" Anna said, "But I could tell it was fake. I could see it, hear it, feel it, but no smell. No taste. It was only color and light. After a few months, the forest started to flicker, then it went out all together. I was left in the cold dark for so long. I'm-I'm just so happy have a real tree!" Anna looked up at me. "At the breeding center where I was born, their was one real tree in the big box where they kept me and my momma. I-I remember being told I would stay there till I hit level five"

"How long did that take?" I asked. Anna continued to smile, but her eyes were shrink wrapped in tears.

"They waited two weeks, then they fed me Rare Candies, four of them! They, they captured me, took me from my mamma and my tree, and this is the first tree that I've seen since then!" This statement stunned me a little. I smiled softly.

"Enjoy it Anna, you deserve it" I said, "Believe me, I know what it's like to have your mother taken away. I-I've had to live through it"

"Really?" Anna asked, "What happened to your mother? Who took you away?"

_A bastard named Tagger_

"It's not important" I replied. "I'm working through it. You're actually helping me Anna, and I'd like to think I'm helping you"

"You-you are" Anna said, "But right now this tree is all I need" Anna continued to climb up the tree, climbing onto a branch. She broke off a twig, holding it in her hand, before plucking a small leaf off the end. She dropped the twig, and bit into the leaf.

"How would you feel about meeting the others in our group?" Anna's eyes bolted open, smile still frozen on her face, she fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud!. "That bad huh?"

I sat down in front of Anna, not concerned about the fall since Treecko are not easily hurt, and such a small fall wouldn't do anything. "Anna?"

"Meet the others? Others, other pokemon? Heh, I remember their were others beside me, in the other chair! I didn't look at them, they couldn't imprison me!"

"Anna"

"I don't need other pokemon, cuter pokemon. Pokemon who've been trained, who've had trainers who loved them and wanted them"

"Anna"

"I don't want to deal with other pokemon, who'll want to talk to me! I-I can't, I can't deal with them right now, because if I do they'll want to talk to me and hear about what happened to me, and if I think about it any more I'll go crazy!" Anna stopped ranting, panting slowly. I smiled softly.

"Are you done?" Anna nodded slowly. "Anna, I know you don't like other pokemon, but it is important you meet the others"

"W-Why is it important?"

"Anna, you're going to be traveling with these pokemon. Don't you think it's important you get to know them?"

"No!" Anna cried, jumping straight up. "I-I can't!"

"Anna, you're going to be traveling with them. The only way you could avoid meeting them would be for them to all be put into their balls the entire time we were traveling. Could you really do that to them?"

"Yes! I could do it, I could" I cocked my eye brow, and Anna relented. "No, I wouldn't do it. I-I couldn't do it. Is it really so important though that I meet them?"

"Yes it is" Anna let out a small whine.

"Alright. I-I will agree to meet the others"

* * *

Anna spent a little longer in the tree, climbing through the branches, occasionally eating a leaf or a berry. By the time we headed back to the hotel room, Anna's chest was stained with burgundy berry juice. A smile though was glued to her face, and that alone made me happy.

We got back to the room, Virgil continuing to stand with his back pressed against the door like a fucking golem. I sat Anna down on the bed, then nodded at Michael. He released the other four pokemon in our group. Rush, Pecha, and Streak reappeared on the bed, while Trish reappeared in mid-air.

"That was terrible!" Trish said, stretching out her wings, "Don't think just because you're human now, you can keep us inside those damn balls"

"I didn't mean to!" I said, "Besides, Michael's taking care you guys. The days just kind of got away from us"

"I declare this to not be an excuse!" Pecha ranted, "All who agree say" Pecha paused, noticing Anna for the first time. "Who are you?"

"...Anna..." Anna said, balling up the bedspread in her little hand-paw.

"I know not of the one who is Anna!" Pecha ranted. "Treecko, declare your allegiance!" Anna nodded slowly.

"Okay, I'm out of here" Anna jumped up, but I grabbed her.

"Sit. Don't worry, you'll be fine" I said. "Just sit here and wait" Anna nodded slowly, eyes wide.

"Guys, this is Anna" I said. "She's, well she's my Treecko. I want you to treat her with the respect you would never show me"

"So what's your story?" Trish asked.

"S-Story?"

"We've all got something" Trish said, "My mother murdered my father. Rush was run out of his little tribe of kip. Pecha's love betrayed her. Streak did...something. What about you?" Anna was now shaking like a leaf.

"I-I was born in a breading center, and I li-lived at the fat man's house for a long time, until Robin imprisoned me in that damn ball" Anna started breathing heavily, so I stroked her back, calming her down. "Alright, I'm fine"

"You look happy, are you?" Rush chirped happily. Anna took one look at Rush, and her expression became one of pure hate. Her face mouth didn't move, eyes didn't droop, but in her eyes something clicked. Something in her eyes had turned to ice, she hated Rush more then anyone at that moment.

"You're a Mudkip" Anna growled.

"I am? Cool!" Sadly I'm not sure if Rush was being sarcastic or not. Either he was trying to make Anna feel better, or a bucket of cement isn't as dense as him.

"Why-why are you a Mudkip?"

"I dunno, why are you green?" Rush chirped. Anna leapt at Rush, swinging her tail, and caught him upside the head. Rush fell over, confused by the sudden attack. Anna attempted to do it again, but I grabbed her.

"Okay, maybe it's time to stop meeting the others" I said.

"All Mudkips must die!" Anna cried. I sat down on the bed across from the one where the others were. "For every freaking trainer who picked a cute little kip over a hideous Treecko!"

"I don't think you're hideous" Rush said, "I think you're cute" Anna screamed in frustration. "That's a funny noise"

"Grrr, you can put me back" Anna growled.

"Not until you apologize"

"Why? He started it, he was born a Mudkip!" Anna snarled.

"Apologize!"

"You're taking his side?"

"I'm not taking any side! Their are no sides to take!" I cried. "Rush is trying to be friendly. You want to feel better, this is where to start. Alright?" Anna nodded.

"I'm...sorry Rush" Anna said.

"It's okay" Rush replied, still smiling. "I know what it's like to be mad"

"You're cut!" I said. Their was a small red cut on the side of Rush's head, but he wasn't bleeding.

"It doesn't hurt"

"Why are you so mad?" Streak asked. We all turned to Streak, not used to seeing the Stunky talk. "Because trainers picked Mudkips over you?"

"Of course!" Anna snarled, "I deserve to be mad. Even when I was picked, my trainer didn't want me"

"Well that isn't right" Streak said, "But you can't go on being mad about that. If you do, you'll just end up making yourself more unhappy. Being mad at humans is like being mad at the tide, they just do things with out thinking about them"

"Hey!" I protested.

"If you remain mad at them, you'll get mad at everyone. Anger is like a wave, it washes over you" Seriously, why ocean analogies? "Pretty soon you'll be alone with your anger keeping you warm at night"

Anna tried to respond, but couldn't think of any thing. Instead she just sat there, staring off into space.

"Streak broke Anna" Rush chirped.

"I didn't break her, she's just thinking" Streak says, "That happens" Michael sat down on the bed beside me.

"Question, since I don't speak pokemon, is group therapy over?" Michael asked.

"It's not group therapy" I growled.

"Then in that case you won't mind if I watch TV" Michael said, flipping the TV on before I could protest.

"This is Kacy Grange, reporting live from the Tabernacle of the Sun" The TV was set on some news program, I barely noticed. "I am speaking with local religious leader Chrono Haggai Grek. Chrono Grek, is it true you and your group plan to protest new trainers registering for the Johto league tomorrow?"

"That's true Kacy" Grek said, finally giving us a good view of him. Grek looked like the living dead, kept alive by virgin blood and sheer hate. His nose looked like a pecker in the middle of his face, and he didn't have any hair on his head, not even eye-brows. If you looked, you wouldn't have noticed his eye lashes were disturbingly short, because his eyes would have gotten your attention. They were violet colored, beautiful on any other person. On him though, they just looked wrong.

"We have decided that the pokemon league is an oppressive organization" Grek said, "Forcing pokemon to battle against their will is against the teaching of the serpent of the sun" The sun began to glint off his silver robe, the hood partially pulled over his head. "All of those who register tomorrow will be considered enemies of the Sun, and will not be welcome among us unless they repent. The day of the Sun is coming"

"Yes it is Mr. Grek" Kacy said, "This is Kacy Grange, reporting live"

"What a freak" Michael said.

"Yeah, I know" I replied, "But..."

"But what?"

"I dunno, but he scares me"


	6. Charlotte and Desiree

**VI: Charlotte and Desiree**

"Anna took that better then I expected" I said to Michael, "I was impressed by how well she was able to interact with everyone" It was an hour later, and Anna was asleep. The others were asleep also. That may seem like a lot of sleeping, but pokemon generally spend sixteen hours a day asleep. "Did you notice?"

"Not really" Michael replied, "Because"

"I noticed" Virgil replied. "She is nervous though, I noticed that"

"Well I couldn't tell" Michael said.

"Also, Pecha isn't saying New Chu Order any more" I said, "And she's talking about herself in the first person, not the third. Did you notice that?"

"Once again" Michael began.

"I do not know that Pikachu" Virgil replied, "Though she seemed short tempered, arrogant, and filled with rage"

"Well, she's actually mellowed out. I mean a lot" I said, "Michael, you noticed that, right?"

"No! Of course I didn't!" Michael cried, "I don't speak pokemon!" We all looked at Michael for a moment.

"Oh yeah, you don't" I said. "Weird huh?" Michael sighed.

"Well, how is Anna progressing? Seeing as I can't understand a damn thing" I smiled, laughing slightly. "It's funny isn't it?"

"A little" I admitted. "Well, I told you when I popped Anna out, she was mad at me, and by mad I mean furious. She blamed Robin for all of her problems, and was scared to death of pokeballs, and other pokemon. Well, we let her out in the park, and she liked that"

"She got so much juice on her she sticks to the bed spread" Michael said. I looked down at the Treeco, pulling her by the sides. Her arms, legs, tail, and stomach stayed pasted to the cover.

"Well all be" I mumbled. "Anyways, I talked her into meeting the others, since if we're going to go on a long journey, she'll need to know who she's traveling with. Well, she handled it well enough, but she doesn't like Rush" I turned back to Michael. "I mean, she doesn't like Rush"

"Why not?" Michael asked.

"Well, she hates Mudkips. At the end of the day, Torchic and Mudkip get picked three to one more the Treecko"

"You made that statistic up, didn't you"

"Of course! Alright, I don't know how much more often Mudkip get picked, but Mudkip get picked a lot more then Treecko. Anna watched a lot of trainers not pick her, and in a few cases she got to hear them call her creepy. She's, well she's been hurt really bad. She handled Rush though a lot better then I though, she only attacked him"

"That's handling it well!"

"I thought she might succeed!" I said. "Besides, she apologized! She did it with a mouth full of bile, but it counts. Streak also talked to her, Streak of all pokemon"

"How is that strange?" Michael asked.

"Well, Streak generally made Virgil seem like a chatterbox" I said. "I know, well to be honest, next to nothing about him"

"Other then Dana originally had him?"

"Dana?" Virgil growled suddenly. "Where is Dana?" We both turned our attention, shocked at the (relative) uncontrollable emotional outburst from Virgil.

"You knew about Dana?" Michael asked.

"Dana visited Ms. Lisa once before she had met both of you. Dana has not earned the title of Ms. She is a horrible stain on the great Ms. Lisa, she has no right to possess pokemon, none to possess what she has. She is a despicable, loathsome woman, and I wish her nothing more then a slow death" With that, Virgils mouth clamped shut.

"Alright" I mumbled. "Well, it's late. Let's get something to eat"

* * *

I had another nightmare. More dead friends, except not friends any more. They wanted to eat me, they wanted me dead. This time I didn't wake up scream, just jolted awake.

The room was dark, and cold. No, not cold, that was me. I was shaking, my shirt clung to me with sweat. Anna was still asleep on the pillow beside me, Michael asleep in his bed. Virgil stood on the other side of the room.

"Virgil, are you?"

"I'm always awake" He replied. "Another nightmare?"

"N-No" I lied, "I just, a noise woke me up"

"I heard nothing"

"Of course you didn't" I mumbled, laying back down.

* * *

In order to enter into the pokemon league of a region, you have to register with the league. I once saw a TV show that said that waiting in the DMV was unpleasant because the DMV was actually a gateway to hell. If the DMV is a gate to hell, the Johto League Registrar leads to Satan's bedroom.

"If you are here, you have an estimated two hour wait" Michael read off the sign. "Why exactly did you want to go through the Johto league?"

"I never got to go through Hoenn" I said. Anna was asleep in my arms. "I want to do a league challenge. For some reason. Had I known the line was to be this long, I probably would have reconsidered"

"Why are you complaining?" Virgil asked, "How will you be able to survive what ever horror your nemesis unleashes upon you if you can not survive a two hour wait?"

"Because I don't have a nemesis planning to unleash any horror upon me!" I replied. As I said this, the Irony Fairy pulled back her frying pan to smack me silly.

"Enemies are around every corner" Virgil replied, "When the time comes, you must be ready to end their life"

"Boy, you're a pleasant one" A new voice behind us said. The three of us flipped around to see two girls standing behind us. The first was tall, disturbingly thin, with short ginger hair, and dressed in denim. My God I mean denim. Denim vest, denim jacket, denim skirt. Under the vest was a top with a black and white hypno swirl, because that made sense. She also was wearing cowboy boots and a matching hat. Her eyes were brown, and bored. Around her belt was over twenty pokeballs, and over her back was a bag.

The other though was the one who really made you stair. She was short, fat, and looked like an escaped mental patient. Her clothing was a mash of various stripped, spotted, and solid neon colors, like she had decided to dye her clothes in a blender full of paint. Her hair was long, and matched the clothing, being blond primarily. It was also streaked green, red, purple, black, silver, brown, pink, and any other color you could think of. She had so much eye liner I thought someone had given her a double black eyes, and was wearing lipstick so red her lips looked like they were bleeding. She also wore a pair of yellow tinted goggles, and had a Chinchou on her head. Strapped to her back was an easel and canvas. I wondered if it hurt to wear that thing, but I was scared to ask. She also had a bag, neon purple, bulging with who knows what.

"Are you wearing a Chinchou?" I asked. The girl giggled.

"His name is Iggy!" She said, grabbing him. "He's blind sadly, but he's my inspiration. I use him to capture the essence of life!"

"...Okay" I said, "Sorry I asked"

"You'll have to excuse her" The tall girl replied. "You see, Desiree is...She just is"

"I am" Desiree replied. "My name is Desiree"

"Angela" I replied. "These are Michael and Virgil" Michael waved, Virgil stared. We took one step foreword.

"I'm Charlotte" The other girl replied. "And I assume one of you is a trainer?"

"I am" I replied. "And you're...a cowgirl?"

"I'm a professional capture specialist" Charlotte replied. Upon hearing this, my eyebrow started to twitch.

"Crap" Michael mumbled.

"A capture specialist?" I asked, smile plastered on my face. "As in someone who captures pokemon for people who buy them? Someone who sells pokemon professionally?"

"Not exactly" Charlotte said. "And what's it to you?"

"Capture specialists are evil!" I cried. "You're the group who can't make it! You're the group who, rather then try to train pokemon, just goes out and captures them to sell them to people who are to stupid to figure out how a ball works. You are the reasons morons can get their hands on pokemon, to abuse them or put them in the occasional soup"

"That may be true" Charlotte replied, "But I make twenty grand a year and don't pay taxes" I growled in response to this, getting looks from everyone. We took a few steps.

"Alright, you make money" I replied, "But is money everything? No! It's almost everything!"

"You are a strange little girl" Charlotte replied.

"Why exactly is a professional capture specialist in a registration line?" Michael asked. We took a few steps.

"I'll tell them!" Desiree chirped up.

"I'd rather you didn't" Charlotte said.

"We were in Olivine" Desiree said. "Some rich looser had accidentally released his pet Slugma in his hotel, and nutless was to scared to recapture the thing. So he got Charlotte to try"

"I found the damn thing in the lobby" Charlotte replied. "It took one look at me, and unleashed a flame-thrower, something I had specifically been told it couldn't do"

"What happened next?" I asked. She sighed.

"I dived out of the way, the flame-thrower set the tapestry behind me on fire, which then set the hotel on fire, and we all got out in enough time to watch the building burn to the ground"

"They charged Slappy McNoballs for the damage" Desiree said, "But as for Charlotte, she got her license revoked, instead she's now got a capture permit"

"Not my fault!" Charlotte replied, "I'd rather loose a hotel then my life. Sadly, I was given two options. I can reregister where I first registered for my license, which may or may not be excepted. If not, I have to travel with a licensed trainer, and retry in a year"

"Why a licensed trainer?" I asked.

"So a licensed trainer can make sure I don't violate the rules of my probation" Charlotte replied. "A licensed trainer has just as much to loose as I do. Huge fines and prison time, whoopee" We moved foreword again.

"Why are you hear?" I asked Desiree, "You don't look like a professional capture specialist"

"Oh no, I'm a painter" Desiree replied. "I just follow Charlotte, waiting to create my opus!"

"What?" Michael asked. We moved past the one hour marker.

"I am trying to capture life in paint!" Desiree said. Her eyes seemed to be glowing behind the goggles. "I have used Iggy, and I will continue to use him, for he is my muse!" Oh Christ, I'd found the human Pecha. Except instead of world domination, she's just fucking insane.

"Alright" Michael replied, slowly stepping behind Virgil. We took a step foreword.

"Sadly, I have yet to capture the essence of Iggy" Desiree replied. "When ever I fail, I must destroy the attempt, for nothing can be learned from it"

"It's why she tossed her last one from our window" Charlotte mumbled. We moved foreword.

"Why not use other pokemon?" I asked. "Also, what's with the goggles?" Desiree giggled.

"I'm trying to get a new perspective. In this case, what would the world look like if everything were covered in movie theatre butter!"

"What have you learned?" Michael asked.

"...That I'm hungry for popcorn" Desiree replied. Not much going on behind those eyes. We moved foreword again.

"So, which one of you is becoming a trainer?" Charlotte asked.

"That would be me" I replied. "Yes, I'm becoming a trainer, someone who should actually be allowed to capture pokemon, not a specialist" Charlotte smirked.

"Why are you becoming a trainer? Scared of money, or watching two pokemon beat each other to a bloody pulp some kind of entertainment for you?"

"It's a challenge" I growled. "You see, being a trainer requires more thought then throw ball A at pokemon B. It requires strategy, training, the ability to forge relationships with pokemon, and view them as more then pay checks. To be a trainer, you have to use that thing between your ears called a brain"

"Really? Does being a trainer mean you get a loveable personality like yours?" Charlotte asked. "Cause in that case, I'll stick with being likeable and making a lot of money" We took a step foreword.

"Angela" Michael began.

"Not now Michael" I growled. "I bet if I challenged you to a battle, I could beat all of your pokemon with one of mine"

"What would that prove except your some kind of neurotic freak?" Charlotte asked.

"Hey" Desiree said, "Shouldn't you be registering?" I flipped back around, to see the registration counter in front of me.

"Oh...shit" I ran past Michael and Virgil, accidentally running stomach first into the counter. "Hi, I'm Angela Duncan, and I need to register" The man at the counter looked at me funny, then at the Treecko slung over my shoulder.

"Alright" The man said. He handed me a piece of paper on a clipboard and a pen. The sheet asked your traditional questions, name, age, gender, bla bla bla. I filled the thing out so fast I nearly burned through the clip board, and handed it back to the man.

"Here you go, gimmie my pokedex" The man startled clicking on his computer.

"Alright Ms. Duncan, tell me, are you now or have you ever been a terrorist?"

"No"

"Have you now, or ever been, a serial killer?"

"No"

"Are you now, or have you ever been, Wally?"

"....What?"

"Standard questions" The man replied. "Will you be using your own starter, or require one to be provided for you?"

"I'll be using my Treecko" I replied, holding up Anna. The man suddenly pulled out what looked like a scanner gun, and flashed a blue light over her.

"Treecko level five. Johto rules require all outside starters be at highest level five, so you may use her" The man pulled out a pokedex. He inserted it into his computer, it beeped like crazy, and he handed it to me.

"Thanks. Wait, does this mean?"

"Step to the right, they will take your picture and upload it to your pokedex. Welcome to the Johto league Ms. Duncan"


	7. Battle Virgin

****

VII: Battle Virgin

"It looks so shiny" I whispered reflecting the light off my new pokedex. "Its got a map, it lets you collect pokemon info that I won't use, it lets you look at levels which I'll never do"

"Yes Angela" Michael replied, "I know how a pokedex works, I had one myself"

"Shut up! I will enjoy myself!"

It was almost three hours later, and we had decided to get dinner. This restaurant whose name I don't remember was offering free meals to all trainers starting the Johto league. We were currently seated outside, bathed in lamp light. We had yet to get anything to eat, but I had downed six glasses of soda, realizing it was the first time I had had soda since becoming human again. Every few minutes I looked at my reflection in my shiny new dex.

"Well, I guess this means we're headed to Violet City?" Michael asked.

"Of course not" I replied, "Cherry Town is first, then Violet city. Don't be stupid" I turned to Anna, who was laying on her back, arms and legs splayed out. I flipped the dex on, getting a reading. "Yes, it works, she's still at level five" I had done that six times in the last hour.

"Wow, still level 5" Michael mumbled, "How often are you going to do that?" I flipped it on, and scanned him. "What do I register as?"

"Annoying" I replied.

"Thanks" Behind us stood Virgil. He had been so still that I had thrown a glass at him. After it bounced off him, we figured he was asleep. Anna ate the little plant on our table, then passed out.

"Mind if we sit here?" The two of us looked up to see Charlotte and Desiree. Charlotte was scowling, Desiree was staring at Iggy, deep in non-thought. Desiree sat down before we could respond.

"I believe that the best way to capture life is through pointillism! Little dots will create life!"

"What the heck is pointil-til whatever?" I asked.

"It's what they painted Sunday Afternoon in bla-bla bla" Charlotte replied, "Can I sit down?" I sighed, and nodded.

"George Seurat created life, why can't I?" Desiree moaned. "Sure he had talent, skill, a musical written about him, but I have zeal!"

"You need medication" I replied. "So tell me Charlotte, how did attempting to register again go?" Charlotte mumbled something under her breath. "What was that now?"

"They didn't let me register" Charlotte growled. "They felt I wasn't sorry for burning the building down, which they're right, I'm not. Given that it wasn't my fault, why should I feel sorry for it? They got everyone out just fine, so I'm not going to apologize for something that wasn't my fault!"

"Couldn't you at least fake sympathy?" I asked. Charlotte shook her head rapidly.

"I will not compromise my beliefs, and I believe I had been wronged! Wronged by an unfair and prejudice system!"

"Or an unfair and prejudice fire department" Charlotte shot me a withering glance, and I smirked. "Alright, I feel for you, or at least I would if you didn't represent a soulless and corrupt system of buying and selling pokemon"

"Soulless or not, it makes money" Charlotte responded, "Money I need to buy pokeballs, food, bullets"

"....Bullets?" Michael asked. Charlotte sighed, and pulled a revolver out of her bag. "...Of course"

"Don't worry, not loaded" Charlotte replied, "I needed it for protection, a girl traveling by herself has got to be protected. I've never used it on anything other then the occasional threatening bush"

"Wait to go" I said.

"Look, I'm glad at the work I do" Charlotte replied, "I'm helping people who can't get pokemon on their own finally get them. Just for a small fee, five hundred a small catch, two grand a big one"

"Good for you" I replied.

"Anyways, I need to travel with an official, licensed trainer now" Charlotte said, "Now when I'm traveling with a trainer, I'll be back on duty, receiving orders and payments"

"Always good"

"I would of course share my profits with the trainer who let me travel with them"

"I'm sure that'll make some trainer very happy" I said. "Now, will you be leaving us?" Michael reached out and pinched me on the back. I flipped around, and slugged across the jaw, causing him to tumble out of his char.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Why did you pinch me?" I asked "It really hurt"

"I feel your pain" Michael growled, pushing himself up. "Come with me" Grabbing me by the wrist, Michael dragged me away from the table, accidentally walking into another girl.

"Owe!" The girl in question we had run into had been carrying a map. She had long black hair, and a disturbingly pink head band, a small face full of freckles, and confused looking eyes. "Is this is New Bark Town?"

"Yes..." Michael replied, "Where do you think you are?"

"Azalea town" The girl replied. "I'm doing better then I thought I was! I didn't end up in Cinawood again" Cinawood?

"Cinawood is on an island!" I pointed out, "How would you end up there? As soon as you started going over the ocean, you should have assumed you were going the wrong way"

"I figured it out when I got off the boat" The girl mumbled. "I'm April, April Moore. I'm new at this, still haven't gotten my pokemon yet. Are you sure this is New Bark?"

"A little" I replied. The girl pulled her map up, and took a look at her watch.

"Crap! I've got to go" The girl pushed herself up, and took off running. She made it three feet, hit a lamp pole, and hit the ground. I just shook my head, watching her walking off again.

"Weird" I flipped towards Michael. "Alright, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"We need to bring Charlotte with us" Michael said, "Something you would know if you would stop messing with your pokedex for five seconds. We have no money, I spent most of it on getting here!"

"So?" I asked, "I'll win battles, earn money, get more pokemon"

"We will need food to feed them" Michael said, "Balls to house them, potions, antidotes, all sorts of things we don't have Angela! We're not going to start earning real money until we get further into the region, where real money is to be made. Angela, we have to have enough for three people, not just one. If we ask Charlotte to come with us, she will earn real money and pay for things for us" I opened my mouth to protest. "Angela, we need the money"

"I don't care" I replied, "Buying and selling pokemon is gutless and heartless, and a bunch of words I can't say if I want this story to have a T rating!"

"....What?"

"Never mind" I replied. "The point is, we don't need to align ourselves with a servant of the evil one!"

"Servant of the evil one?" Michael asked, "Professional capture specialists are not servants of Lucifer, they're just people who do a job! They're paid, they capture the pokemon, they turn it over to their employer, nothing else, quit acting like they're all secretly Nazis!" He sighed, "Angela, unless you have another plan, I don't know what we're going to do"

"....Damn it" I sighed now, "Fine, the evil one may come with us"

"I'm sure she will be grateful" Michael said, "Come on, let's head back" Yeah, I had agreed to let someone who caught pokemon for money come with me for money. I felt sick, like I had given away my soul and principals, and not gotten a good deal for them.

Back at the table, Charlotte was leaning back in her chair, feet propped up, while Desiree had set up her canvas and had thrown three glasses of soda on it. What else would you expect to see?

"Hey guys" Michael said, "Sorry about that, Angela has something she would like to say to you"

"I do?" I asked. Michael nudged me gently, I kicked him in his ankle with all my strength. As he jumped around, I turned my attention to Charlotte. "We would like to know if you would accompany us on our journey" Charlotte smiled, calculating little bitch.

"I would be glad to accompany on your journey, if of course Desiree gets to come, and we make the occasional stop for a client" Lousy conniving...

"Deal" I growled. We shook on it, I considered throwing my drink on her, but Desiree had used it up already.

"Are you a trainer?" I turned around, to see a boy standing across from me. The boy was dressed in some kind of blue material that made him shiny. I'm not kidding, baggy blue pants, shirt, jacket, and top hat(?), all made of this disturbingly blue substance. "I said, is one of you a trainer?"

"I am" I replied, standing up. The blue boy suddenly made a pose. Why? I don't know, but now every one was staring at us.

"I, Dean Baker the III, Lord Protector, Exemplar, and future champion challenge..." He looked at me, "What's your name?" Why is it every person I meet seems like they were recently released from the nut house?

"Angela Duncan?" I replied, almost scared of the response.

"I challenge you, Angela Duncan, to a battle!" He posed again, letting the lamp light reflect off of him, almost blinding me.

"Why on earth are you dressed like that?" I asked, "It makes you look like you're dressed in wrapping paper"

"Wrapping paper? I'll have you know these were very expensive" Dean said, "Besides, I believe that all trainers need showmanship. This makes me look like someone who really knows what they're doing"

"It makes you look like you ransacked Liberace's house after he died" The blue boy scowled.

"Never the less, I have flare! Flare is what is most important for victory"

"I'm pretty sure talent is what's most important" I said, "But alright, fine" I turned back to the table, and scooped up Anna, waking up the Treecko in the process.

"Whaza? What's happening?"

"Guess what" I said, "It's time for your first battle" Anna suddenly shot straight up.

"First battle? What are you talking about?" Anna asked.

"Well, we agreed that you would be my starter, and you would battle. It'll make you stronger you know"

"I thought we should work on the mental battle first though, you know, getting me used to being around other pokemon, and Mudkips"

"We're going to continue the mental battle" I said, "But we're starting the physical one now" Anna grabbed hard onto my hand. "Anna, let go" She shook her head rapidly, holding on tight with all four limbs. "Anna, you've been complaining this entire time about how Treecko aren't picked for being perceived as not being cute or strong. Well, it's time to prove them wrong"

"...Damn it" Anna hit the ground, landing on all fours. "I-I've never been in a battle though. Not against another pokemon, never once before"

"Well, then this will be a new experience for you, now won't it?"

"This will be dull" I heard Michael say behind me.

"What do you mean?" Desiree asked.

"Simple, at best, both pokemon know two attacks each. That's at best. At worst...we'll be here a long time"

Dean looked down at my Treecko, confused out of his shiny skull.

"Where is your Chickorita? What's that...thing?"

"I loath Chickorita" I said, "And that thing is Treecko, the best starter Hoenn has to offer, and the fastest starter their is"

"...They have starters in Hoenn?"

"Yes they have starters in Hoenn" I growled, "Now send yours out"

"Al-alright" Dean said, "Totodile, I call upon you" Another dramatic pose, and he tossed out a pokeball with a water drop icon on it.

A Totodile appeared in front of me. It looked at me, then at it's trainer, before biting Dean in the ankle.

"Owe! You stupid bastard, get out there" He kicked the poor little water pokemon out onto the field. Anna snickered at the Totodile landed in front of her.

"Why did you bite your trainer?"

"I dunno" Totodile responded, "Cause I could"

"Anna, no associating with the enemy!" I barked, "Use Leer, now" Anna gave Totodile what was supposed to be an intimidating look, though it was about as intimidating as Pecha.

"Scratch, let's go" Dean ordered. Totodile rushed at Anna, gently scratching her across the chest. Anna responded with pounding the little Totodile across the skull.

"Keep pounding Anna" I yelled, "Get it in the throat, or the eye! Go for maximum damage"

"Totodile...just keep scratching" Dean yelled. Totodile ignored his trainer, instead biting Anna on the tail, and slamming her belly first into the ground. Anna fist pounded Totodile in the stomach, causing it to let go of her.

"Use water gun!" Dean yelled. Totodile looked back at his trainer, confused. This gave Anna ample opportunity to slug the stupid water-type in the eye, knocking it sideways. "...Why did you not use water gun"

"Totodile don't learn that until they hit level six you dolt" I told him. "Anna, pound" Totodile was on the ground, but Anna pounded again. "Pound until he quits twitching, we've won then" Anna did as she was told, pounding until that Totodile's skull was purple and puffy.

"What was that about?" Dean asked.

"It was about me winning" I said, "At any cost" I pulled out my pokedex. "Huh, Anna's hit level six, and she knows Absorb. Tell me if your Totodile hits level six" It's one thing to win a battle, another thing to win a battle and be a completely vindictive bitch about it.

I returned to my seat, as shinny boy ran off like a blue blur. I smiled at the others.

"Was it necessary to beat that Totodile until it bled?" Desiree asked.

"You bet, I won"

"We won!" Anna said, "I-I won my first battle"

"Yeah, you did" I said with a grin, "I hope you're ready for a lot more of them" Anna's expression dropped, like she hadn't thought of that. I kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry, you'll do great"

"So, tomorrow we head out" Michael said. "Another long journey, hopefully less insane"

"Meh, insanity is the spice of life" I said. "I don't care, tomorrow I start my journey, the one I've been waiting to take for years now" I stroked Anna's back gently, "I don't care what it takes, I don't care who stands in my way. I'm going to win"


	8. The Day Before The Journey

**VIII: The Day Before The Journey**

Our second to last day in New Bark Town was hot. Or, at least Charlotte and Desiree claimed it was.

"How can you guys not be bothered?" Charlotte asked. She was sweating through her T-shit, and had removed her denim jacket. Desiree was also sweating, but that was also because she was wearing four layers.

"You really don't know what hot is, do you?" I asked. "In Hoenn, this is winter time. If you're that bothered by the temperature, then you clearly can't make it, and should just give up"

"Not on your life, bitch" Charlotte said with a smile. She pulled her vest back on. Desiree had largely ignored the two of us, holding up Iggy.

"I need a new surface!" Desiree said, "A new perspective from which to bring forth the life that hides behind these pale eyes" She turned to Virgil, who was standing stiff as a statue. "Excuse me, may I borrow your head?" Virgil shrugged, and Desiree placed Iggy on top of him.

Do to our lack of money, we had yet to buy Virgil new clothing. Instead, we raided the hotel lost and found. He now was wearing a shirt reading "Colemans Night Tours and Bail Bonds", and two different shoes. His expression was completely blank, and he cradled Pecha, Rush, and Streak in his left arm, with Trish perched on his shoulder. In his right hand he held another paper cup with chrysanthemum tea.

At this point in time we were standing outside of the hotel, waiting for Michael. Thankfully, we were only waiting a minute and he came back out.

"I think this is the first time we've made it in and out of a hotel without something going horribly wrong" Michael said.

"I know, it's unsettling. Don't worry, things will go wrong again" I said with a smile. "We still have tonight" Since we had to give up our room, Michael, myself and Virgil were sleeping in Charlotte and Desiree's room.

We finally started heading through the crowded streets. Seeing as today was the day before most trainers began their journey, everyone was loading up on supplies. Thankfully, we weren't going to buy pokemon supplies. Instead, we were heading to the bookstore.

Now, originaly we were going to leave today, but I woke up having a panic attack when I realized I couldn't name ever pokemon used by Buggsy. So, I needed to correct this error, I needed data.

"Angela?" Anna asked from my shoulder. She had been silent this whole time, and I could hear her little heart beating fast. "What is your goal out of all of this?"

"Well, to help make you stronger" I said, "And to"

"No, that's what you want for me" Anna said. "I'm asking, what do you want out of this? You're helping me, the very least I can do is try to help you"

"Oh, you are" I said. "Remember how I said I was going to get you to battle, and make you stronger?"

"Yes"

"Anna, what do you know about the pokemon league?" Anna shrugged.

"The fat man tried telling me about it, children train pokemon, beat adults in 'gyms' for 'badges', whatever those are"

"Don't worry, you'll figure that out soon enough" I said. "Anna, badges are one of my goals. What they are, are a symbol. A symbol of strength, dominance, and prestige. Eight badges allow you into the Johto Conference Finals, and give you a one in eight shot at becoming the champion of Johto"

"That's your goal?" Anna asked, "To become champion of Johto"

"More or less" I said, grinning. "To be champion of somewhere, and have the strongest pokemon around. To have fans who love me, to publish a book of strategies, to prove that making charts on gym leaders is not a waste of time!" By now I was ranting, and having a Pecha moment, when we made it to the near empty bookstore.

"You know, I kind of expected you to be buying things like potions, and pokeballs" Charlotte said as we entered the cement building.

"Yes, well you would be wrong" I replied, "Pokemon training is ten percent walking, forty percent training, fifty percent studying"

"I'll need more paint" Desiree said, "And I need a cantaloupe" We paused in the doorway.

"...I'll ask" Michael said, "A cantaloupe?"

"I need texture for this piece!" Desiree said, "I need life, I need melon! Cantaloupe are the most cheerful of all the melon, don't you agree?"

"I've never really thought about happy melons" Michael said in a confused voice.

"Then you will come with me" Desiree said suddenly. "As will anyone else who can not see the emotions of fruit. Can all of you?"  
"Yes" We all said in unison. Michael shot me a death glance as Desiree dragged him off by one arm, Iggy now on his head.

"What did she mean by the emotions of fruit?" I asked.

"When Desiree gets like that, best not to ask" Charlotte replied. "Shall we go in?"

The bookstore was practically empty, since most of the other trainers would be off buying supplies. I took off right away to the section on pokemon, more specifically, Johto pokemon.

Now, as you know my dear listener, I was originally from Hoenn and had a scrap book filled with information on the Hoenn pokemon league. The Johto League, well I had a list of gym leaders. That was really about it.

Seriously, I always figured if I did a second league, I'd go to Sinnoh, or to that fifth one that was about to be given league status around the time of my story. Johto, well it never crossed my mind. The league was overrated, and the country was backwards. Everyone spoke with an accent and the money was blue. So, I figured I'd never end up in Johto. Of course, irony is a cruel bitch mistress.

"Alright, Virgil put those pokemon somewhere else" Virgil shrugged, turned to Charlotte, and put the others in her arms.

"Hey!"

"I'm doing you a favor by letting you travel with me, you can hold my pokemon"

"You do remember I'm paying for this journey of insanity, right?"

"Silence!" I reached for a six hundred page book on Faulkner, only to have someone else reach for it. Being the kind and gentle person I was, I started smacking the other hand as hard as I could.

"Ow! What gives?"

"Mine!" I grabbed the book, then flipped to view my opponent. The boy was taller then me, and thin as a rail. He had ebony colored skin, curly hair, and almost shocking green eyes. He was wearing a T-shirt that read "Star of the Show" and had one pokeball clipped around his waist.

Behind him was a short girl who looked like him, I guess his sister. She had straight hair, and eyes framed by square glasses. She was wearing a red plaid suite, and her eyes were buried in a copy of _Being Peace._ She didn't look up, instead sighing at the drama about to go on in front of her.

"I want that book" The boy said, "I need it if I'm going to face Faulkner"

"I'm going to face him also" I said, "I need data! I don't know anything about the stupid bird user, I need any edge I can get"

"How can you not know anything about Faulkner?" The boy asked, "All kids in Johto know about Faulkner! He's the first gym leader on all trainers journey"

"Andy, they are clearly not from Johto" The sister said.

"What makes you say that?" He, now named Andy, asked.

"Her accent, her lack of knowledge about Johto" The girl said, "The fact that she's wearing more clothing then you and not sweating implies she's used to a much warmer climate. Her two friends who have stood silently behind her I can not get a read on"

"Johto, born and raised" Charlotte said, "Also, not a trainer, capture specialist. I'm perfectly happy with the two of you tearing each other shreds"

"I don't care where you're from" Andy growled, "I want that book!" Andy jumped towards it, but he didn't get close. At this point in time, Anna had been watching from the top of my head, and had apparently had all she could take.

"Don't touch my trainer!" Anna cried, as she brought her tail down between Andy's eyes. I couldn't help but smile, she was happy I was her trainer.

Andy fell flat on his stomach, Anna landed on his head.

"Did I...do good?" Anna asked.

"Yep, you kicked ass" I said with a grin. Andy smacked Anna off of his head, knocking her to the ground. Before I could react, Andy attempted to grab my ankle.

Attempted being the key word. Virgil appeared beside me, and lifted Andy up by one arm. Andy struggled, Virgil barely twitched.

"Do not touch her" Virgil replied. Another hand grabbed Virgils arm.

"Do not touch my brother" The girl said. She had finally put down her book, but she seemed only vaguely interested in what was going on. Virgil let go of Andy, and she let go of him. We then watched as Virgil pulled back, to punch the girl.

She grabbed his fist! In mid-punch, she grabbed his fist, and stopped it. Virgils arm began to tremble, as did hers, but neither gave an inch.

"Virgil"

"Jillian" The girl said. "You are much stronger then I assumed"

"As are you" Virgil said. "I assume your charge is not aware their is a second copy on that shelf?"

"No more then yours is" Jillian said. Andy and I then both jumped for the second copy.

* * *

A few minutes later, Andy and I had finished shopping. Andy had bought one book, I had bought eleven, and Virgil had bought one on the human anatomy of all things. Charlotte hadn't bought anything.

Now, we sat at a table outside the store. Anna was asleep in my arms, Charlotte asleep beside me. Jillian sat beside Andy, and Virgil stood behind me, both silent. Virgil held both my stack of books, and all of our pokemon were balanced on various parts of his body. Right now, we were waiting for Michael and Desiree to come back.

"So, you finished the Hoenn league" Andy said, "And just decided to go to the Johto league?"

"I didn't do that well in Hoenn" I said, "I wanted to try again" Truth be told, I had no idea how I had done in Hoenn, other then I wasn't champion.

"Alright, that's cool" Andy said, "Me, well this is all about me. Time for me to make my mark on the world, time for people to know the name of Andy Boulware! One day, my statue will be erected in the hall of champions, me and my Totodile!"

"You also got a Totodile?" I asked.

"Well, they were out of Cyndaquil" Andy whined. "So, I was stuck with this" My eyebrow began to twitch.

"You weren't stuck with anything" I said, "All starters are great, you just have to readjust your strategy" Andy shrugged.

"Strategy can only get you so far" Andy said, "What you need is gut, instinct, battle with your heart" With your heart? Who says that except the people who make Valentines Day cards?

"If you play with your heart, you're not playing smart" I said, "What you need to do is memorize stats, type strengths and frequencies of usage by other trainer"

"Wow" Andy said, "Somehow you've taken something that seems fun and turned it into work"

"Not fun!? I bet you've never even made a chart!" I cried. "Charts are fun, graphs are fun, spending hours buried among books are fun" I sighed. "You are right about one thing though, all of the graphs in the world don't matter when compared to first hand experience. I don't want to just make a chart, I want to live it!"

"I want fangirls" Andy said, "And money, lots of money" He sighed, "And I want a new pokemon" He stood up, "Jill, let's get out of here"

"As you wish" The two stood up, and left without another word.

"I do not like that boy" I said.

"Of course you don't" Charlotte said, not as asleep as I thought "Do you not like him because his ideas on how to be a trainer don't match yours, or because he smacked your Treecko"

"Both" I said, "And because he didn't name his Totodile" I stroked Anna's back. "This is something that just annoys me to no end, not naming your pokemon. They agreed to be your pokemon, the least you can do is name them"

"I don't name mine" Charlotte said.

"That's because you're a soulless monster who represents the problem, not the solution"

"...Thanks" It was at this moment that Michael and Desiree returned. Iggy was in Desiree's arms, and all three were coated in smashed fruit. "You know what, I really don't want to know, let's just get going"

* * *

Later that evening, Michael and Desiree were off cleaning off the fruit, and I had taken the last shower I would get in a long time. Now I sat on the bed, books all around me. I also had an empty scrap book, some glue, and scissors.

"I spent almost four hundred on all of that" Charlotte said. "And you're going to cut it up?"

"All of these books are just to bulky to move and carry, better just to cut out what I need and put it in" I said, "I'll add to it as we travel, right now, I just need basic info"

"You could have gotten that without spending almost a half a grand" Charlotte said.

"Oh relax, it's just money" I said. "You can get more money. Now, last time I did this I just cut pages out of library books, but this way I figured I won't get in trouble"

"Why did you first start doing this?" I paused.

"I grew up in a less then stable environment" I said, "I wanted to be a trainer, to escape from them, and to make something out of my life. I couldn't leave them though, so this was as close as I could get"

"That's sad" Charlotte said, "No offense, but you don't need that anymore. You have been traveling for a long time now, you are experiencing it first hand, you don't need a substitute. Unless, you're using it to avoid think of something else?" My hand trembled.

"You have no idea" With that, I began cutting.


	9. A Clue To Her Identity

**IX: A Clue To Her Identity**

The wind was what made it so miserable. It blew across my nude body, cutting into my flesh, an icy knife that I deserved. I deserved everything I was getting.

Under my feet was slick wood, wooden boards. Behind me I could hear the ocean waves splashing against the wood, some of the water would splash on my ankles. I wanted to move away, but I couldn't. No way to escape.

The ocean on all sides, and I stood on the end of this peer, one thousand miles long. No sun or moon, everything coated in gray light. The water was brine colored, with dark shapes frequently swimming around me.

"Do you know why you are here? Do you know Angela?" In front of me they stood, my accusers. All dressed in black robes, no faces, just two yellow eyes starring back at me. The tallest one though was responsible, the Judgeman.

I wanted to open my mouth to respond, but how could I? I had no energy to do it, no way to do it. I couldn't fight against them, no escape from them. They would follow me to the ends of the earth. They deserved their revenge, and I deserved to die.

"We know Angela" One of the choir of the damned said.

"We all know what you did"

"You should have died with us. You didn't deserve an escape"

"Angela Marie Duncan" The Judgeman said, "You are accused of the following high crimes. One, that you did know that doomsday was coming and did not warn your friends. Two, that your negligence lead to the death of all of them" As he said this, the choirs robes vanished.

My friends, dead, still dead, rotting. Smiling, bleeding, insects falling out of holes in their bodies. Seeing me with dead eyes, seeing my weakness. The Judgeman laughed slowly. "Three, you are charged with knowingly leading me to your friends, to kill them" The Judgemans robe flew off, and now Tagger stood in front of me. His skin was pale, and he still bled from the wound in the back of his head. He grinned a wicked grin.

"For your crimes, this court sentences you to death!" With no strength, he pushed my frozen body. I couldn't move, only watch as I hit the water. Felt cold hands grab my legs, my throat

"Noooooo!" I screamed. My body came to life, and I kicked. I thrashed, but it did nothing. Hands around my neck, my ankles, my arms, dragging me down. Down into the icy abyss.

"No! No! Aaaaahhhhh"

"Angela!"

"Let go of me you fucker!" I struck out, and hit Michael in the nose. It was then I realized I wasn't wet, I was warm, and in my bed. Michael was on top of me, holding me by my shoulders. All the lights were on, and the others (even Virgil) were around the bed, looking at me.

"Uh, hey guys, what's up?"

"What's up?" Charlotte asked, "You were screaming bloody murder"

"Angela, you were having a nightmare" Michael said, "You were thrashing, I couldn't get you awake" He climbed off of me, letting me sit up. "This is the second time it's happened"

"Uh, well I'm sorry about that" I said, "Sorry I startled you, it was nothing"

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing?" Michael said. "You were having another nightmare, I thought someone was hurting you" I sighed, and lay back down.

"I don't care" I said, "I'm going back to sleep"

"But you"

"I don't want to talk about it" I growled, "Now let's get some sleep"

* * *

It was cloudy when we finally left New Bark. We left when most people would only be waking up, best to beat the crowd.

"Why couldn't we have waited for another few hours?" Charlotte yawned, "I haven't had breakfast, only got nine hours of sleep, I mean, jeez what do you expect from me?"

"I want you to stop complaining" I said, "I've been through a hell of a lot worse for fourteen months, and I assume you have to"

"Why can't we just wait for another three hours?"

"Simple. I said no" The sun had risen, and their were people out, but not many. Anna was asleep in my arms, twitching occasionally. The others were awake, walking below me, except Trish. She was fluttering beside my head.

"So, what's up with the screaming?" You've gotta give Trish credit, she doesn't mince words. I sighed.

"It's irrelevant" I said, "The screaming was...it doesn't matter what it was. Why don't you just drop it?"

"I can't" Trish said, "I'm concerned"

"Their is nothing to be concerned about" I said, "I had a nightmare about...the future. I had a nightmare about the journey that was about to come"

"Like what?" Trish asked. "If you're worried about it being like the last one, I wouldn't. Your last journey wouldn't exactly qualify as normal"

"I know it wouldn't" I said, "I'm just worried"

"Is their something else?" Trish asked, "Cause no offense, but you've been really bitter since you became human again" I laughed softly.

"I am not bitter" I said.

"Yes you are" Trish said, "You've been irritable, mean, except when around Anna. She's brought out the good in you"

"Yes" I said with a small smile, "She has. You know"

"Uh, Angela?" Charlotte asked. I sighed.

"Yes?"

"No offense, but why are you saying Umbreon over and over again?" Only Charlotte seemed curious about this, Virgil was reading his book on human anatomy, and Michael was contemplating what it would have been like to live a sane life.

"Charlotte, why must you question these thing?" This time it was Desiree. "You asked me the same thing the first time I walked around with all of my clothing on backwards. Some questions don't need to be asked. Sometimes, you just need to strip yourself naked and run around waving silk scarves, to keep yourself sane in this cold gray world. If she wants to talk to pokemon, so be it" You know, sometimes I envy Desiree, who sees the world that simply.

"Uh guys? Look in front of us" In front of us was a big gate, the exit of New Bark Town. Beside the gate was a group of people in yellow robes. They had signs they picked up the moment they saw us.

"Down With The League, Down With The Oppressors" I sighed.

"Great, we've got a group of crazies" I said.

"Don't say that" Charlotte said. "The Tabernacle is not a group of crazies. They're the second largest religion in Johto. They're responsible for a lot of good things, they ran a bunch of fundraisers in my hometown and got enough money to re-open the pokemon center"

"I'm a member" Desiree said. We all turned to her.

"Then, why aren't you in a yellow robe?"

"Yellow robes, only go to High Church Members, those involved in the actual running of most events" Desiree said, "Low Church Members, like me, are people who attend services, but who do not work for the Tabernacle. I don't agree with everything they say, but then again, I don't have to" We approached the not really menacing crowd of six people. Desiree walked up to them.

"I am of the sun" She said.

"Go in peace sister" One of them replied. Desiree turned to us and nodded. We walked through the gateway...

...And into eternity. Or at least I did. Once again I found myself floating in the universal crossroad.

"Hello Angela" Not Meowth said, appearing in front of me. I cocked my eyebrow, confused why I was here.

"Uh, Not Meowth, you were my guardian as a reborn. I'm not a reborn anymore, I don't think you and I are supposed to be talking"

"We're not" Not Meowth said, "If you didn't still count as a reborn. You do though, plus you still need my help" I sighed, sitting down on the void, in front of the Meowth.

"I don't need anything" I said, "I'm fine"

"I don't mean about that" Not Meowth said, "I mean about your sister" My not-heart froze as soon as he mentioned this. I don't know why really, being omnipotent, he should have known about her.

"Your journey is going to be a long and dangerous one Angela" Not Meowth said, "I'd love to tell you that you do find her, but destiny is a river, splitting by the choices you make"

"Of course it is" I said, "It's a river, and I just fell out of my raft" He smiled at this.

"More or less" Not Meowth paused. "Angela, what do you know about all of us, the Not Pokemon as you call us?" I shrugged.

"Their is two for each pokemon, one good and one evil. Each Not Pokemon is supposed to be a guardian of a number of reborns, of course the evil ones seek to fuck it up. That's about it" Not Meowth smiled.

"Well, we do have a real name. We are known as the Titans, the Titans who hold together the multiverse. We exist for ever, and not for a single moment. We do have a leader though"

"The Titans?" I asked, "That's to cool a name, I'm going to keep calling you Not Pokemon"

"Do as you wish" Not Meowth said. "Let me finish. Our leader is the Supreme Titan, the strongest of all of us. Our Supreme Titan has taken notice of you"

"Of course he...err...she is" I sighed, "Why me? What's so interesting about me?"

"You've escaped death twice" Not Meowth said, "Something few have ever done. You weren't just near death, the door was open and ready for you. This makes you fascinating to the Supreme Titan"

"I'm glad he finds me so interesting, why the hell isn't he (or she?) here to tell me this?" I asked.

"Well, the Supreme has spoken to you before" Not Meowth said. I opened my mouth, but he interrupted me, "You would not know who the Supreme one is, you wouldn't even remember"

"Of course not. Why is it you guys are always so damn confusing?"

"Come with the job" Not Meowth said, now with a grin. "Anyways, the Supreme let me stay as your guardian, instead of assigning you a new Not Pokemon. The amazing thing is he allowed me to stay your guardian in spite of the fact I made contact with you"

"That doesn't happen much, does it?" I asked.

"No, although all reborns have guardians, few actually no about it"

"Just out of curiosity" I began, "Do you have any one other then me under your protection"

"Yes, a relative small number. Seventy-eight million, over forty-nine thousand earth's" My non-jaw dropped. "I know, I've asked for more, but my requests have been denied thus far"

"Uh, is their a reason you brought me here?" I asked. Not Meowth smiled.

"As you know" Not Meowth said, "I gave you the ability to let Michael understand you. Now I have come to give you something else. A clue"

"A clue to what?"

"To the identity of your sister" I froze upon hearing those words. "Yes Angela, I know who your sister is, where she is, who adopted her" That was all he got, when I grabbed him by his furry throat.

"Listen feline, you tell me where Chris is right now" I growled, "Or else I shake you until your eyes pop out" Not Meowth's eyes immediately popped out of his skull. "Gah!"

"Angela, please don't threaten me" He said, sucking his eyes back in, "You're not good at it. Sadly, I can not help you. The first absolute rule is no direct interference, a rule both me and the Milotic have to obey. I made an exception once, I can't do it again"

"It isn't an exception" I said, "It's a name drop"

"It's illegal" Not Meowth said, "I can't do it. I am however allowed to give you a clue, only one clue"

"Of course you are" I sighed, "Alright, go on"

"This is what I can tell you" Not Meowth smiled, "You sister has the same thing that all women in your family have"

"The same thing? What? Black hair? Blue eyes? D cups? What?"

"Sorry, that's all I can give you" Not Meowth said. "I can tell you however your sister was adopted by a family who loved her, and treated her great. Even though she doesn't know about you and your mother, she is loved"

"Thanks" I said with a smile. I paused for a moment, "Before I go, can you tell me, to the best of your abilities of course, about Charlotte and Desiree. Can I trust them?"

"I can say this, you will be able to trust them" Not Meowth said, "They will not try to kill you, I promise that"

"Thanks"

"Stay away from the Tabernacle of the Sun" He said suddenly, his voice having turned sharp. "They're dangerous"

"Wait, why?" Crap, now I was falling. "Why? Why should I stay away from them!?" I fell, until Not Meowth had vanished from my vision.

Not Meowth smirked, having to admit to himself he got a lot of pleasure from sending me rocketing back to earth in a series of different ways.

"So, you told her about my existence?" The Supreme Titan said, appearing beside Not Meowth.

"I felt it was best" Not Meowth said, "If she had some understanding of why I'm still protecting her"

"I agree. I would worry about her figuring out my identity, but I've been traveling with her for so long now, I'm in no danger"

"Even you can't see through time when you make yourself corporal" Not Meowth said, turning to his leader. "You could have chosen any form you wanted, why that one?"

"Because, no one would suspect it of being the vessel of the Supreme leader of all Titans" Not Meowth smiled.

"I suppose not"

* * *

I fell, kept falling, clenched my eyes shut when...

"Angela?" My eyes snapped open, and I had taken three steps outside of Johto. No time had passed at all, of course.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, I guess" Michael said, "You had just spaced out. Are you okay?" I nodded my head rapidly, and smiled. "Something up?"

"I have a way" I said, "A way to find my sister"


	10. The Worthless Rejects

**X: The Worthless Rejects**

Now my dear listener, I've told you some about my exploits during the early portion of my journey, but little about the others. The truth is, plenty had been happening to them also, but I'm going to focus on our first day out of New Bark.

"Anna, pound!" I commanded, watching my little Treecko bring her tail down on a Hoothoot, or rather, the third Hoothoot. In one hour.

"Why are you beating up Hoothoot?" Michael asked, "You have a personal grudge against them?" He and the others were sitting down, under a tree, watching me.

"First gym is flying-type" I said, "This is the best way to prepare her, have her get used to enemies that won't be on the ground" A little ways away from the others was a group of five pokemon, watching us.

"Why does the infernal death reptile have so much trouble against the clockwork bird!? Pecha could take it down with a single jolt!" The primary one talking, to the surprise of no one, was Pecha. "Pecha would have no trouble against all birds!"

"You know Pecha" Trish said, "Some of those infernal birds could easily kick your ass up one end and down the other" Trish was perched on a low set piece of wood, jutting out of the tree they were under. She had knocked some berries down to the ground for the others.

"If Pecha remembers correctly, Pecha beat you down foul death bird" Pecha said.

"Yeah you did. Say Pecha, how is that world domination going?" Pecha growled.

"Fool! While you were still learning to spell your name, I was training myself, to conquer galaxies!" Trish shrugged.

"What does that mean?"

"How about we don't argue?" Rush asked happily. "Let's just enjoy this beautiful day" Rush had, inspire of all that had happened to him, managed to keep a smile permanently glued on his face. You had to wonder if he was faking it sometimes, but you didn't care. Rush's happiness was a consistent, and as of late, we all needed something consistent.

"You're right my beloved Kip" Pecha said, "Trish being wrong is no reason to argue"

"Me being wrong! You know fuzz ball, I could come over there and"

"Maybe you shouldn't argue with her" Streak said, in his slightly out of it voice. "Maybe you should just take it with a smile on your beak, or as best a smile as you can. Pecha's stubbornness is like the ocean, never ending"

"Again with the ocean? What is with you and the ocean?"

"I like the ocean" Streak said, "It's so calming, so pleasant. I think the afterlife is like an ocean, where everyone can float and rest"

"I like that idea" A new voice said. Everyone turned to the silent member of their little group, Iggy the blind Chinchou. "I always like how ocean water feels, so wet and gentle"

"What's it like?" Rush asked, "Being unable to see, how do you do it?"

"It's not something you do" Iggy said, "It's something you adjust too and overcome. I had to deal with it, but I did. Truth be told, I'm better for it"

"Or really?" Trish asked. "Name one good thing about being blind" Iggy shrugged.

"Well" Iggy said, "I'm not afraid of anything" Trish laughed.

"I'm calling shit, you have to be afraid of something. I mean, it's a big dangerous world, and you can't see. You have to be afraid of something"

"I don't" Iggy said, "Maybe you have to be afraid, but I'm not" Trish flew upward, above Iggy.

"Really? Well, this is why you should be afraid!" Trish dive-bombed at Iggy, wings folded in, going full force. Iggy's antenna sparked, and a thunderbolt shot off, hitting Trish on the underside. Trish jerked violently, and slammed into the tree.

"...Crap" Trish slid to the ground from the tree, finally resting on the same branch she had started out on. "How did you know?"

"You're to loud when you flap your wings" Iggy said, "Also, your wings are small so you have to flap a lot, I could feel the air. I wasn't scared though, I told you. A Chou without sight is a Chou without fear"

"If you say so" Trish said.

"Pecha must consider this!" Pecha said, "A blind army of Kipchu! It will revolutionize the entire industry of world domination of the...my organization"

"Why aren't you calling your happy club New Chu Order?" Rush asked stupidly.

"Pecha is no founder of the club that is happy!" Pecha said, "Pecha is a dominator of the world in the making, Pecha will rule everything, Pecha will...will...ah, who care?" Pecha's spirit and insanity vanished. Rush walked over to her.

"W-What's wrong?" Rush asked. Pecha started to cry.

"If I don't have subjects, what's the point of being a world ruler? Does anyone truly care about me? Without Nel, do I have any real friends!?" Now Pecha began to sob openly. Rush licked her across the nose, and Pecha grabbed him.

"What's wrong with her?" Iggy asked.

"Show some respect" Trish said, "She lost her best friend a month ago" Trish sighed. "She lost hers, I lost mine, we all lost something that horrible day"

"What day?" Iggy asked.

"The day of the shooting" Trish said, "The day I lost Flash"

"I lost Nel and Lisa" Pecha cried.

"I lost Wisp" Rush said, with a slight negative tone in his voice. "Louis lost L3, Titan lost Sharon, we lost Titan and Bane"

"I lost Shu" Streak said. "I flow on though. We all flow through the great river"

"The great river?" Iggy asked.

"If death is an ocean, to get there we flow down the great river of life. We don't know how it's going, or if it'll be rocky, but we do know it's going somewhere" Streak then, no joke, fell asleep while standing up. I guess he lost interest in the conversation a took a nap.

"Weird" Trish said. "I don't know about a great river. Hell, I don't know about much of what Streak said. I know that Flash still has to be alive somewhere, but I don't care. It wasn't fair what happened to us""

"I don't think life really is fair" Iggy said, "I knew that early on. You just deal with it though, you smile and you continue on. I've always tried to do that"

"What's going to happen to us you think?" Rush asked suddenly. "I'm the only pokemon Michael officially has. He's been taking care of us, but I'm the only one originally on his team. He isn't battling anymore, so what is their for me to do? How can I prove my worth?" Rush's smile slipped, and he didn't automatically put it back on. Pecha began to sob harder, holding harder onto the little kip.

"What should I do!?" Pecha asked, "What should one Chu, with as much intelligence and charisma as me do?" She turned serious suddenly, and stopped crying. "What have I been doing? My New Chu Order was supposed to help pokemon, and has it? It was supposed to make pokemon equal to humans, superior. I wasn't helping the others though, I was hurting other pokemon. Everything I did was a waste"

"Don't say that" Trish said. "You did help us, maybe not the way you wanted"

"How? I didn't do anything"

"You made me laugh" Trish grinned as best someone with a beak could. "Your insane rants, your poses, the nazi costume that vanished awhile ago, you always brought a smile to my beak"

"See, I was ineffective. I was a clown, a clown to be mocked, and not a leader! I was nothing"

"You don't get it" Trish said. "You made things easier for me, even when I was mad at you. Pecha, I never hated you, I loved you for making my journey with humans so much easier" Pecha sniffled.

"Th-Thanks" She whispered. "Trish, ar-are you my friend?" Trish sighed.

"Yeah you dork, I'm your friend. I have to be, I can't loose any of you. I don't care how much you annoy me Pecha, or you Rush"

"Rush annoys no one" Pecha snapped.

"...Anyways, it doesn't matter to me. Guys, not counting you Iggy sorry, we are the last of our group. We need to stay together no matter what we do. Things are going to change. I-I don't want that to happen"

"You're scared" Iggy said suddenly.

"N-No I'm not" Trish protested.

"I can hear your heart beat" Iggy said with a small smile. "Your heart has actually been fairly steady, which surprised me. When you mentioned change, your heart started hammering. Even when you mentioned Flash, your voice wavered, but your heartbeat was steady. Change scares you I think"

"Not change, new pokemon" Trish said, "New humans. A new Angela, an old me. I'm going to get ignored, I just know it. Left to rust in the dust heap, fed and not acknowledged by who ever my trainer is now"

"Trish, you never battled" Rush pointed out.

"It wasn't battling that mattered" Trish snapped. "It was that I was part of the group, I had a trainer who noticed me, even if I never battled. Now what though? Do I just vanish into the background? No, not again. I spent to long as a decoration, I won't let that happen again"

"You don't just vanish" Streak suddenly said.

"...I thought you were asleep"

"I'm always asleep" Streak said, causing everyone to pause and try to figure that statement out. "You go out of your way to be noticed, you won't let yourself be forgotten, I'm sure of it"

"What if they ignore me?"

"We won't ignore you" Rush said happily, getting a small giggle out of Trish.

"Thanks" Said Trish, "Rush, you do know that you have value to us right? You won't need to prove your worth"

"Rush is worth more then me!" Pecha cried out. "Rush, your worth is beyond measure"

"Thanks Pecha" Rush said, rubbing his nose against her snout. "Pecha, you said your New Chu Order isn't doing what you wanted it to do. Why not get rid of it?" Pecha froze.

"Get rid of the New Chu Order? Insane! Pecha is the New Chu Order, getting rid of it would be getting rid of Pecha!" Iggy looked (sort of) over at Pecha.

"Ms. Pecha" He said, "I may not be an expert on this, but I don't think that you are your organization, you are you. Raving and a little nuts, but definitely you"

"I thank you Chinchou" Pecha said, "But no, getting rid of the New Chu Order is out of the question"

"Why?" Trish asked, "Your army is shattered, not that it ever amounted to much. You've more or less lost your zeal for conquering the world since you realized you're not helping your fellow pokemon. Why not give it up?"

"Because it has been the anchor in my life! One Chu's goal, to take the world, and help all the pokemon who live within it"

"Pecha, you're not happy though" Streak said, "You should do what makes you happy, instead of dragging around the order"

"But it's familiar! I need something familiar right now" Said Pecha, "I can't do something new, not now. The New Chu Order will never die!"

"I don't like the New Chu Order" Rush said.

"The New Chu Order must die! How do I do that?" Pecha slowly looked at everyone. "Now, I had added all of you, except you Iggy, into the New Chu Order. You would all have to request your release, which I know would deeply hurt all of you"

"No it wouldn't, we agree" The three of them said in unison. Pecha frowned.

"You could at least pretend to be upset" Pecha mumbled. "Well, then I have no choice but to agree with the wishes of my subjects. I, regretful, announce the immediate termination of the New Chu Order!" With that, the New Chu Order ended, and no one cared. "What now?"

"Well, I didn't like the New Chu Order" Rush said, "But I liked being part of a group. What if we made our own club, one just for us, for the ones from the first group, and Iggy 'cause he's here"

"Iggy says thank you Mr. Rush" Iggy said. "I'd be happy to be a part of your group"

"I'll join" Trish said, "I'd like to be a member of something, even if it is just a group who do nothing. It's something"

"Count me in" Streak said, "Why not? I'm not going anywhere, I might as well not be going anywhere in a group" Everyone turned their attention to Pecha. She sighed.

"The Chu agrees, on the condition that I get to name our group. I choose New-New Chu Order!"

"No" Everyone else said.

"Grr, fine! I agree to join, but we need a name" Pecha said, "A name to strike fear into the hearts of men! A name like, Pecha's Army!"

"Pass" Trish said, "How about the Legion of Awesome? Cause, we're a legion, and we're awesome!"

"I like Super Happy Fun Club!" Rush chirped happily. "Happy fun times for all!"

"I vote for...I dunno" Iggy said, laughing. "Names aren't my thing, we could name ourselves the Test Pattern Avengers!" Everyone stared at him. "Twenty points to whoever gets that reference"

"Can...Can I make a suggestion?" Streak asked, getting everyone's attention. Trish shrugged.

"Go on Iggy"

"Thank you Trish" Streak said. "You know what Dana called me when she captured me? Worthless. A reject. Said she could have bought a pair of shoes for what she paid to get my pokeball. Trish, have you ever been called worthless?"

"Yeah, my mother" Trish said. "Said I was a failure as a fighter for being, so small. I was a failure as a daughter for being me"

"That's what I was told by my tribe of Kips!" Rush said, "They rejected me, said I was worthless because I got caught. You know, I miss them sometimes"

"I was once owned by Dana" Pecha said, "Dana hated me, said I was only good as a purse Chu, and she wanted an Igglybuff. Pecha is cuter then the buff who is Iggly!"

"Before Ms. Desire" Iggy said, "I was ignored, rejected, all because I was blind. My school refused to have anything to do with me, they hated me. I...I always felt worthless"

"You see, that's what I mean" Streak said, "They insulted us, they called us worthless rejects. They made that an insult, then let us make it a compliment. Let's be worthless rejects!"

"You want us to be called the worthless rejects?" Trish asked cynically. "We're insulting ourselves!"

"I dunno" Rush said, "It sounds more like we're showing them we can't be hurt by their insults, or their red hot nails. I like it"

"Whatever Rush likes, I like" Pecha said, "Pecha agrees"

"I think its ironic" Iggy said, "It's stupid, and punchy. I agree" Trish looked at the little group, and smirked.

"Well, if everyone else agrees, who am I to argue?" Trish said. "I guess this means we're the Worthless Rejects?"

"Yep, Worthless Rejects!"


	11. Pretty Women I

**XI: Pretty Women Pt I**

Route 29 is not a long route; it's about as long as route 101. Yet somehow, we were only halfway down it, and the sun began to set.

"I don't know where the hours went," I said, spraying a potion on Anna, as Michael set up our tent. "I wish their were more" No sleep again tonight, knowing my luck.

"You spent nine hours wailing on Hoothoot!" Charlotte said, "It got to the point that I started to think you had a grudge against the birds" Desiree stood behind up, painting all of us.

"Stop talking! You're throwing me off" She picked up a piece of dirt. "Yog-Sothoth commands you!" She threw it into the canvas.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Adding texture" Of course.

"By the way guys, thanks for not offering to help" I heard Michael say, "I really needed the work of setting up the tent. I'm really glad you're not helping me"

"You're welcome," I said, pulling my scrapbook out. "Alright, I need another pokemon before I go up against Faulkner, and his damn Skarmory" I unfolded my team chart. "I need to start really focusing on getting my next pokemon"

"You've only had Anna for two weeks!" Michael cried.

"More then enough time to get a second pokemon" I said. Ha, what a crock.

The only reason I was bringing up the idea of getting another pokemon so soon was the same reason I had spent all day killing HootHoot. It took my mind off of things. My mind felt like a water balloon about to pop, I needed sleep. "I need either an uh, a Horsea, Cubone, an A-Abba, an electric type of some kind, or a flying-type, or a steel, or dark"

"You have this planned out?" Michael asked.

"I've had it planned since I was six" I said. "The first time I saw Salon Maiden Annabel battle. I was...enraptured, I started planning out my first team. I wanted a team that covered all my bases, strong against most types. Sadly, it's nearly impossible to be strong against all and resistant to all"

"Your types aren't close to resistant to all" Charlotte said.

"Well, I believe if they can't stop you from attacking, what does it matter how resistant you are?" I asked. "Alright, I need something that can take down Skarmory, which sadly amounts to fire and electric type. Instead, my only type is the one Skarmory is quadruple resistant to"

"You should have gotten a fire type," Charlotte said.

"Didn't you agree to get a fire going for us?" I asked. Chalet mumbled something, then got to work. As she did, I picked up Anna who I had laid in the grass beside me.

"So, another pokemon?" Anna asked.

"You knew it was coming" I reminded. She sighed.

"I know, I just hoped it was coming later" Anna smiled sweetly, "Will I like them?" I smirked.

"Anna, would I catch them if you didn't like them?"

"Yes" I opened my mouth to protest, but couldn't. Truth is told she was right, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Instead, I prepared a small bowl of poke chow (paid for by Charlotte) for her.

"Anna likes you a lot" I turned, to see Virgil behind me, still holding everyone, Trish perched on his head. "The needs of pokemon are important to me, I am pleased at how happy you have made Anna. She needed it"

"Thanks Virgil" I said, "Come on, sit down"

"I will sit when my task is completed" Virgil said. "What are my duties for this evening"

"Duties, I thought you were just protecting me"

"Protecting and serving" He replied. "I am at your every command" I grinned.

"You're kidding. Stand on one leg" Virgils right leg went up. "The other one, but don't put your other down first" Virgil jumped, folded his left leg in, and his right one came out. "Hold your breath" He stopped breathing.

"Alright, let's see how long you can last" Virgil didn't move. "Wow, twenty seconds" Virgil didn't shake, didn't move at all. "It's been almost a minute, give up"

Virgil shook his head rapidly. "Two minutes, come on, you'll have to" Virgil collapsed from not breathing. "...Shit"

* * *

Virgil was fine, just a little oxygen deprived. We ate crappy M.R.E.'s (Meals Rarely Edible), and sat around the fire.

"Angela, why do you like pokemon battles?" Desiree asked. She had finally stopped painting, and was now feeding Iggy pieces of pokechow. Her food...it had ended up on the canvas. Frankly, that's all it's good for.

"Oh please don't ask" I heard Michael moan. I smacked him upside the head.

"What's not to love? I love the strategy necessary for every battle. I like fighting different opponents with different moves and different pokemon. I love the thrill of pounding a new trainer into the dirt, and then getting to encourage them so one day they'll come back and kick your ass. I love traveling, winning badges, the thrill of competition, I love it all!"

"Competition ends though" Desiree said, "Or you loose, do you like that?" I shrugged.

"I make it my business to try and never loose. That's why I need a second pokemon as soon as possible, I don't want to loose to Faulkner" I sighed, my hands trembling. "His pokemon are the weakest in Johto, but that still doesn't mean he'll be easy"

"I can help you train if you want" Desiree said.

"Er, that's a great offer Desiree" I said, as she popped a piece of pokechow into her mouth (!?), "But I've got my own training program set up"

"Angela, you okay?" Michael asked. I turned to him, smiling.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, when you mentioned Faulkner, you started shaking a little. I noticed it, I was worried. Can you blame me?"

"Don't worry, Faulkner doesn't scare me! Loosing does a little though" I shrugged. "Loosing would mean, all of my planning, all of my preparation, was for nothing"

"I wouldn't say nothing" Michael said. "It would just be a set back"

"I don't except set backs!" I snapped. "I can't afford for set backs, I can only go foreword"

"Boy, someone's irritable" Michael said. I just growled in response. "Now that I think about it, you've been really irritable lately. Why is that Angela?"

"None of your business" I snapped.

"You've been having nightmares. I hadn't commented, but I have to. You've woken up screaming, I try talking to you, and you shut me out. I need to know, why Angela?" Michael's eyes were filled with concern, but I didn't care. I didn't want it.

"I don't want to talk about it" I snarled, "What part of that do you not get" Michael sighed. He scooped up Anna, who was (of course) asleep.

"You know, I'm glad Anna is here. She's made you happy" Michael said. "I like seeing you happy" He stood up. "I'm going to take a walk. Angela, you know you can tell me what ever it is that's bothering you" I walked him walk off to the edge of the woods. Virgil was behind me, Desiree and Charlotte to my left, and Anna in my arms.

"No, I can't" I whispered. Tears slowly streaked down my face, but I did nothing to wipe them off. I let them fall, I let my body shake. "I can't tell you that it was my fault" One of my tears hit Anna in between her eyes. One eye cracked open, then both when she saw my face.

"Mama!" Anna jumped up, "You're crying, what's wrong?" I paused, smiling slowly.

"You called me Mama?" Anna blushed a little.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" I shook my head.

"Don't worry, I like it" I said. I smiled slowly. "Anna, you know how much I care about you, right?"

"I've got a pretty good idea" Anna said.

"Good, then know this" My smile vanished, as did my tears. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I swear to Mew him/herself, that I will kill anyone who tries to harm you"

"I know mama" Anna said.

_Good _that nagging voice in my head said, _Maybe she'll get in trouble, and this time you will protect her. Maybe you won't fail so miserably this time around_

"I will make good on my word" I whispered. Yet still my guilt wouldn't leave me. Anna yawned, and was soon asleep again. I knew soon I'd be a sleep, and the nightmares would come again.

* * *

A few hours later I had crawled into me and Michael's tent, by myself. Well, not myself, Anna, Rush, and the others were with me. Michael and Virgil stood outside, Michael putting out the fire. Virgil, well he didn't have a tent (a tent is for the decadent according to him). Right now, he was preparing a bed of leaves.

"Virgil, can I ask you something?" Michael began. Virgil sighed.

"If you must" Virgil growled. He put a flat rock at the top of the pile, probably for a pillow.

"Well, since Angela has been human again" Michael giggled slightly, "I've been so happy, just being with her. I wondered though, what were your thoughts on women?" Virgil smiled! A small one, and it vanished, but Michael saw it.

"My thoughts on females are, they're...strong. My ideal female mate would be strong, but innocent" Virgil shrugged. "Females are a sore spot for me...They are perfection"

"Pretty women are proof of heaven" Michael said with a grin. "They're a reason to get up in the morning, that feeling you get when with them. Blood rushing, heart pounding, every hour a second, like when I'm with Angela, buried sweetly in her dark hair" Michaels grin was as wide as it could get, and Virgil cocked his eyebrow.

"You're in a rare mood, why is that?" Virgil said "I never see you like this"

"I know" Michael said with a laugh "I can't help it. I'm so damn happy. I don't do it when I'm around Angela, since I know she hates this stuff. I mean, we're not even technically dating, except for one make-out session. I don't care though, just knowing she's there makes me so...so happy. I want to scream out how happy, I want to start singing Unworthy of Your Love whenever she's around. I just...I never get to be this way"

"Why are you telling me?" Virgil asked.

"Because I know you won't tell anyone" Michael said. "You rarely talk to people" Michael paused. "Why did you fall in love with Enfer?"

"How did you"

"It was fairly easy to figure out when Angela told me" He said. "I just, Angela also told me about your other lover. Your original Zangoose mate, she told me back when she was an Umbreon. Why...why Enfer? The two were completely different"

"Mara was innocent" Virgil said, "Which Enfer wasn't. They were the two strongest females I ever knew though. I don't want a female who's my inferior, I want my equal in every way. Someone like Mara, or like Desiree" As soon as that was out of his mouth, Virgil shut it. Michael heard though.

"Desiree? Virgil, what about"

"Gahhhhhhhh!" The two jumped, hearing me scream from my tent.

* * *

I knew where I was, I was in my room. Or at least I think it was my room, there were no walls, but my stuff was there. There was no roof, but the noose hung there.

Around me they stood, in a circle, waiting for me. Under the noose they had set up a gallows, ready for me. I stood there, ready for it, scared out of my mind. Why wasn't I running? I needed to be running, just get out of there, through the crowd.

"Don't even think about it" Shu growled, "I'll stop you. You're not my sister"

"You're why we're dead" L3 said, "You killed us, you...deserve this"

"I know I do" I whispered. I was crying, even though I could barely feel it, I knew I was crying. "You can't do this though, you were my friends"

"We were your friends!" Nel shrieked, "And how did you repay us? We took pity on you, we decided to be your friends. You repaid us with blood, so we will take blood"

"It's only fair" Flash said, "Just do it quick, and everything will be better. I promise, it will only be a painful as you deserve it"

"It's your fate" Lisa said.

"I know it is" I replied, as I slowly mounted the stairs. My shoes were shined, which is odd because they were tennis shoes. I starred at the noose as Sharon flapped up.

"You took me away from my mate" Sharon said, with a wicked grin. "We all deserve to die, but you more then most Angela" With that, she helped me fit my head into the noose.

"I told you I'd get you" I heard Tagger whisper. His sour, rotten breath filled my nostrils. "Now it's time for you to die"

"No" I whispered. "Please no" Tagger pulled the lever, the floor fell out. "NO! Gahhhhhhhh!"

My cheek stung, as I snapped to life. I suddenly became aware of two things, that Michael was holding me, and that he had slapped me.

"Fuck that hurt, what was that for!?" I yelled.

"You were shaking, you wouldn't wake up" Michael said, "I needed you awake right now, I though you were being killed. Angela, this is the third time I've heard you wake up screaming. I'm sure those aren't the only times you've jerked awake either"

"What the hell are you getting at" Michael turned around.

"Virgil, come and get our pokemon" Michael said. He handed Virgil Anna, Trish, Rush, Streak, and Pecha. "Thanks"

"I will leave you alone for now" Virgil said, "And explain to the others" With that, he departed. Michael then zipped up the tent, leaving the two of us alone.

"What do you think your doing Michael?" I snapped. "If you expect me to tell you about my nightmare"

"Not only do I expect you to tell me" Michael said, "You and I are going to deal with what is bothering you. I'm not letting you go until you do"

"No" I snarled, "I'm leaving right now" I reached for the zipper, and Michael grabbed my arm.

"Maybe you don't get this Angela. I love you, I love how strong you are. Now though, you're going to have to let down your defenses and let me help you. What is wrong Angela?" I looked into Michael's eyes, and finally began to break down.


	12. Pretty Women II

**AN: **I am so sorry. I didn't want to have to wait that long to post another chapter, but I've spent the last two months working like a dog, finnishing exactly one chapter. I promise though, I will be back on schedule for the next few months.

Also, I've been told by FF to not thank people in my chapters, since "we only want content in the story". Taking their advice, I instead decided I will write a thank you to anyone who doesn't review anonymously.

**XII: Pretty Women Pt: II**

"God damn you," I cried, "You couldn't just leave me alone. You couldn't just let it drop, you had to keep picking at it. You have to keep asking me about it, you asshole."

"I need you to talk to me Angela."

"I fucking hate you!" I yelled. "That's what you need to know. I fucking hate you. I hate you, just leave me alone! Get out of my tent and leave me alone!"

"No," Michael said. I hit him, square in the nose. Michael didn't even flinch, even though he started bleeding. All he did was reach into his pocket and pull out a tissue.

"Always carried some of these with me," Michael said, "I believe in being prepared." He slowly dabbed off the blood. "Now, what is bothering you?"

"None of your business," I snapped. "I want you out of my tent, you can sleep outside tonight."

"You really think it's that easy?" Michael said. Shaking his head, he laughed. "Damn it Angela, you should know by now."

"Know what?" Michael smiled gently.

"I love you. Nothing you say to me, nothing you do to me, will ever cause me to stop loving you. I love you and want to protect you, seeing you unhappy makes me unhappy. I will do whatever it takes to help you, to protect you. If I have to drag the answer out of you, I will do it, because you will be happy then. Angela, whatever is inside of you is eating you like a canker sore, you need to deal with it. Tell me Angela." I began to crumble.

"I hate you, for loving me."

"I know you do," Michael said, wrapping his arms around me. "I'm prepared for that, and anything that might follow. You can hate me, punch me, spit on me, I can deal with it. What is bothering you?"

"Their deaths," I whispered, "And my part in it. I knew about it, knew from the get go about everyone being killed. Not how, or who, but I knew it would happen. Well I knew who, I knew Tagger would be responsible for it. I knew weeks in advance, about the coming event, called Doomsday," Michael didn't say anything, not that I would have heard it. I just kept talking.

"You know about Not Meowth, about Tagger, but I never told you about Doomsday. I...that was intentional. You couldn't understand, I can barely understand. I just knew that Doomsday was coming, and I did nothing. I didn't tell anyone, oh Christ why didn't I tell anyone? Why did I not tell you!? Why did they have to die!?" I screamed in agony, absolute and utter misery. I needed to do it, just release some of my emotion. Michael held me strong the entire time, refusing to let go.

"Why!? They were innocent! I was the target, I was the one they wanted to kill! They even succeeded, so why am I still here! I'm not worthy! I don't wanna be, I want to die!"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you," Michael said, "If you wanna kill yourself, you're going to have to kill me first. I'm not planning on dying, so I guess you're not either."

"Damn it! Shut up! I want you to shut up, if you won't leave, you will be quiet!" I shouted.

"Sorry," Michael replied. "I'll be quiet, if you want. I'd like to point out something."

"What!?" I snapped.

"It wouldn't have mattered," Michael said. "You could have run from Tagger all you wanted, but he would have followed. He'd have waited until he could get us alone, then killed all of us. You could have confronted him directly, and he would have killed all of us. If you had told me, yeah I would have run, but once again he would have followed us."

"Maybe," I replied. "If you had left the others behind..."

"And guaranteed your death? Angela, I wouldn't accept that. I would try to save everyone, no other options. Yes, I wish you had told me, but I have to remind myself it probably wouldn't have changed a thing, and ask myself if I can live with it. I can live with it Angela, I've had time to deal with it."

"I'm glad you can," I replied, "But I can't. Every night, they come to me, hating me because of the lives they lost. The lives I took."

"Damn it Angela, you didn't take a life," Michael's voice was full of anger, but not at me. Tagger instead, clearly Tagger. "It was that monster, that unholy piece of filth that didn't deserve you as a daughter. That supposedly superior man, who we beat. We beat him Angela, we showed him true superiority." I smiled.

"Yeah, I guess we did, didn't we? He fought against us, and we kicked his ass." More or less. Michael smiled. "But, he was after me still! I know he killed them, but I could have done something! Maybe I wouldn't have succeeded, but I could have tried something!" Michael sighed.

"You know, I could tell you you're right. You could have tried to do something. You could have run away in the middle of the night and tried to hide from Tagger, and he would have left us alone, but it doesn't matter! Angela, you're dealing entirely with what could have happened, but didn't. At the end of the day, yes the others died, but you can't change that, not anymore. You have to more on."

"I can't," I replied. "If I move on, I'll be forgetting them, making light off their death. I need to remember them, keep them alive that way."

"I'm not saying not to remember them," Michael said. "I'm saying to forgive yourself! I mean, Christ Angela, you've been torturing yourself over this for weeks now, ever since you became human. Maybe even before that! It's time to let the guilt go."

"The guilt is keeping them alive!" I said, "...What's left of them alive. I dunno, I can't let them go. If feeling guilt means not forgetting, if it means getting what I deserve, then so be it." Michael just stared at me dumbstruck.

"That's debatably the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life! You're punishing yourself because you think you deserve it? That's stupid Angela."

"Don't say that!" I yelled, trying to slap him again. Michael grabbed my arm this time.

"No more of that," He replied, as I struggled against him. "My dear Angela, you're going to calm down."

"Let go!"

"Nah, I think I'll hold you for a little longer," Michael replied. "Angela, I'm never going to let you go. Not when you're unhappy, not ever. When you're hurting, when you're scared, I'm going to hold you until you stop shaking, until you feel safe."

"You-you'll protect me?" I asked.

"You're surprised by this?" Michael replied. "Angela, you're the most important person in my life. I know you're strong enough to protect yourself, but there will be some things even you won't be able to do. If I really love you, do you think I wouldn't want to pick you up when you're down?"

I stared at him trying to comprehend this. I'd heard this before, but only from one person.

"My-my mother told me that," I said, "She said that she could...protect me. She told me that no matter what happened, she could take it." I shook my head, "It didn't matter though now did it? Michael, my mother died. What makes you think something won't happen to you?"

"Because, I believe it won't," Michael replied. "I mean, if you spend every moment thinking about stuff like that, it'll eat you. You'll go insane, you'll die from the inside. Angela, I don't know what will happen, for all I know a comet could fall out of the sky and crush us." I smiled softly, even though Michael couldn't see it do to the lack of light.

"A comet is mostly ice," I replied, "I doubt it would crush us." I'm sure he smiled at this.

"The point remains the same Angela, I don't know what would happen. I know though that I can't dwell on the past, or worry about the future. I know that I have to just figure out how to deal with the right now."

"But, what if I-"

"You won't forget Angela. I know you won't. I also know you can't spend every moment thinking about this. Your mother cared for you, do you think she would have wanted you to do this to yourself?" I shook my head.

"She would...would have wanted me to move on. I-I don't know if I can though."

"Maybe not all at once," Michael said, "But you need to at least try. Can you do that Angela?"

"...Yeah," I replied, confidence in my voice, "I can try." I could see Michael outlined in front of me. I had quit struggling against him, instead I had sunk into him. His heat keeping me warm, his breath on my body. I slowly leaned forward, and kissed him.

This was our first real kiss. We had kissed before, most notably with us making out like we were on the Titanic. This though was...different. There was passion here, there was warmth here. Michael moved me down, laid me on my back, and continued to kiss me. Our lips parted for a brief second.

"Don't stop..."

"I won't." He moved his was down my neck, my shoulders, towards my breasts, when he noticed something. "...Angela?" No response. "Of course."

Despite the passion, despite the need, I had sort of fallen asleep. Alright, not the most exciting ending, but it's the truth. Sadly.

_

* * *

_

I've been here before. Not here though, yet here before.

It was a cemetery this time. It didn't matter what it was though, it was always the same. Grey, not black, but grey. Clouds above me, with...wrong light behind them. Black earth, muddy this time.

Tomb stones all around me. Some round ones, some crosses, one or two pillars. They were crooked, none of them belonged there. I didn't need to see the names though.

Shu, Nel, Lisa, L3, Wisp, Flash, Sharon

They were burned into my mind. I had killed my friends, indirectly killed my friends. No, I knew, I could have stopped it right? Of course not, that psycho would have hunted us down no matter what!

"Gah!" I screamed, grabbing my head. I fell down to my knees, head buried in my hands, bent over, crying. "I-I just don't know. There has to be an easy answer, there just has to be."

"There doesn't have to be anything," A female voice, Nel. I looked up at the Delcatty. She was perched on a tomb stone, her tail waving back and forth behind her. Her face was blank. "If there was justice, would a recently evolved Skitty have been killed? Why me, why not Pecha? What would have made her more valuable than me?"

"I survived a war," Shu said, stepping out from behind a grave, behind me. "I survived a killer, a monster in flesh, Darrius. Why should I survive all of that, just to be killed by someone I didn't know?"

"I didn't know about your crisis," Lisa said, standing across from me. "I was innocent in it all. Because of your cowardice, I was killed for no reason though, shot twice by a lunatic. Virgil died because of you."

"It's your fault." Now they all came again, to torment me. "You're the reason we're in this cemetery, rotting in the ground. It's your fault."

"No it isn't," I whispered. Slowly, I pushed myself up. "You're dead, you're all dead. It's not my fault."

"Heh-heh, oh Angela." Not him. Tagger walked towards me, past my dead friends, until he was right in front of me. His voice was rotten, sour for lack of a better word. He was smiling, the fucker was smiling. "You led them to me Angela, it was all your fault. Well guess what, they've come to make you pay."

"No," I backed up, as the others started moving towards me. "S-stay back" I whispered, falling on my ass.

"You will join us," they said, "In death."

"Dead, where you belong," Tagger replied.

"No, she won't." A different voice, not before in my nightmares. Fresh, strong. I looked up slowly.

"...M-Michael?" He stood before me, looking down at me, smiling. His hand was out, so I grasped it. Slowly, he helped me to my feet, holding me even as I stumbled. "What what are you doing here?" I asked.

"You needed me," Michael replied, "I swore I'd help you when you needed it, hold you when you stumbled." He locked eyes with me. "You don't believe this, do you?"

"Believe what?"

"That you're responsible? Tagger is lying to you."

"Tagger is...you're right," I whispered. "I'm-I'm being killed from the inside by a murderer. Tagger was," I turned towards him. "You were a psycho."

"Heh, what?" Tagger asked, his smirk wavering.

"You were a bully, a psycho, a murderer. You, you were such a coward that you had to use tricks to hurt us. You couldn't confront us head on, and even when you did, you lost to an Umbreon! The superior man was defeated by a teenage boy and an Umbreon!" I snarled.

"Shut up!"

"No I will not shut up!" I screamed. "Even after death you tormented me, you were my fear and my guilt. No more though Tagger, no more." My voice turned cold. "I'm not afraid of you, and I won't feel guilty, not for your actions. You're nothing Tagger. You're shit."

"I-I'm nothing! Die!" Tagger lunged, but I wasn't scared. I watched, watched him age. His hair turned white and fell out, as his skin flaked and peeled away. Tagger's eyes rolled into the back of his head, his clothing dissolved away. His body turned to bones, which collapsed onto the ground, becoming dust as they hit.

"I told you, you're shit," I mumbled. "As for the rest of you...I don't know what to say. I'll feel bad about it for the rest of my life, but Michael is right. I've-I've gotta start forgiving myself." My friends looked at me, and smiled.

"We knew that," Shu said, "It took you a long time to realize it." With that, I watched as they walked away from me, until all of them had vanished.

"Are we ready to go?" Michael asked. I looked over the deserted cemetery, and smiled.

"Yeah, we're ready" Taking his hand in mine, the two of us walked off, as the clouds parted. Sunlight appeared, as we left that horrible place.

* * *

I awoke, once again, to sunlight. Outside I could hear chirping noises. Michael was staring down at me, smiling.

"How do you feel?"

"Wonderful," I replied. For the first time in weeks, I meant it.


	13. Saya

**XIII: Saya**

"I need to catch a Horsea!"

It was a few hours later, after I had climbed out of the tent, Michael with me. My hair was nasty, my clothes were nasty, I was nasty, and I loved it. All perfect signs of being out on a journey, oh how I loved it.

Right now, we were continuing to eat the MRE's we had bought for breakfast, which of course tasted like complete shit. I was tired, even though I had beaten the nightmare; I'd still only slept for a few hours. Michael was also tired, having not slept at all.

I didn't care about it, about not sleeping, about keeping Michael up. The sun seemed brighter today, the sounds of nature were crisper, and even the MRE's tasted like sweet shit. I had Anna on my lap, bouncing her on my knee.

"Y-y-y-you're in a g-g-g-good mode" Anna said, bouncing up and down. I stroked her back, still bouncing her.

"I know I am. I feel great, better then I have in weeks. Anna, you've helped me a lot you know" Anna smiled.

"Thanks Angela" Which was about when Charlotte spouted out her need.

"I need to catch a Horsea right now. The Beadle of Judge Harnkness wants a Horsea"

"The what of what?" Michael asked. "Also, a Horsea? Why a Horsea? What is a Beadle?"

"No idea, but every Major Judge has one" Let me pause for a moment, and explain a little about Johto's government. In Johto, a council of nine judges elected by the people every five years runs the government. Each Judge had a Beadle, which to this day I do not know what that is. All I know is one had contacted Charlotte.

"Why would anyone connected to the Major Judges contact you?" I asked.

"It's a general message, probably sent out to all active capture specialists" Charlotte said. "I don't care though, it's a pay check, and a nice boost to my reputation. Hell, maybe this could be the start to me getting my license back!" She unclipped three pokeballs from her belt. "Alright, just need to find a Horsea"

"Moron!" I shouted, "We're in the woods, where do you hope to get a Horsea? Besides, if one were here, I'd catch it. I need one more then you"

"I'm paying for you damn trip!" Charlotte shouted back, "This is my job. You may not like it, you may not respect me, but it is my job and it's how I'll keep paying for this trip" She leaned back. "Not that it matters, its not like there is a Horsea anywhere around here"

"Gah! Why did you have to say that!" I moaned. Charlotte looked at me funny.

"Is their something wrong?" Charlotte asked.

"Now she's in for it" I heard Michael mumble.

"You bet their is" I shouted, "The universe runs on a system of irony. Whatever ends up being most ironic will most likely occur. Now a Horsea is going to appear"

"That doesn't make sense!" Charlotte said.

"Ctowl!" A loud voice above us screeched. We all looked up to see a Noctowl flying above us (oddly out at this time a day), struggling with something in its talons. Take a wild guess at what was in its talons, one guess my dear listener.

"Is that a Horsea?" Charlotte asked. The Horsea in question fired a water gun at the chest of the Noctowl. While that wouldn't mean much at first, it kept firing, pushing its self out of the Noctowls grip. Eventually, the Noctowl couldn't hold on, and the Horsea fell out of the sky. Like a blue, flipping divot.

Charlotte watched, mouth agape. I probably should have said something, but I chose not to. Instead, I watched the Horsea fall and land (head first) in Charlottes mouth.

"Mghmfp!" Charlotte shouted, hands going for the little pokemon. By now, Desire had flipped her canvas around to this sight.

"Don't pull it out yet! I want to get this moment!" Charlotte flipped her the bird, and pulled the Horsea out with a PLOP! As this happened, I pulled out a pokeball.

"...I don't believe it" Charlotte mumbled, "Well Angela, I guess you're right. Irony does play a part, and irony says" I tossed a pokeball at the Horsea. Charlotte pulled the squirming pokemon out of the way.

"What the hell are you doing?" Charlotte asked, jumping up. I leapt up also, preparing a second pokeball. Anna secured herself on my leg, trying not to fall up. The others in our group just stared at us.

"What do you think I'm doing?" I asked, "I'm catching my Horsea!" The Horsea in question now turned its attention to me, looking confused.

"Your Horsea?" Charlotte asked, "Uh, hello! I need to catch it so I can keep paying for this damn trip"

"Excuse me!" I flipped to the Horsea, who had yelled out. Charlotte kept yammering on, something irrelevant. "I'd like to say, you two are both extremely annoying, and guess what? I'm not going!" With that, the Horsea fired a water gun that hit Charlotte in the face, causing her to gasp. She accidentally let go of the little Horsea, who instantly shot out another blast of water before hitting the ground. The Horsea used this to bounce away from us, into the woods, as we stared like dumbness.

"That was surreal" Michael said.

"I don't care" I said, "I need to catch that Horsea! Virgil, you're with me" Virgil looked over at me for one second.

"No" I froze in mid-step, and slowly turned to face him.

"Excuse me?"

"I loved Ms. Lisa, I loved your mother, and I have agreed to protect you to the death" Virgil said, "But I will not assist in capturing another pokemon under any circumstances"

"Why on Earth would you"

"Uh, Angela?" Michael asked, "Are you running"

"Of course not" I said.

"Well, Charlotte is" I flipped, to see the denim wearing skank into the woods, pokeballs out.

"...Damn it" I took off after her. As I followed slut-o-rama, Anna was watching from one of the low branches of a tree on the side of the path. She had a twig that she tossed between her little digits.

"My trainer, making a fool of herself to catch a Horsea that isn't worth it"

"Hey, a Horsea is always worth it!" Anna looked down, to see said Horsea beneath her, leaning against the same tree. "Besides, shouldn't you be helping your trainer?"

"If she needed my help, she could have asked for it" Anna mumbled, "Besides, I don't feel comfortable around those balls"

"Around pokeballs? Why?"

"...I don't know you, and to be honest I don't feel comfortable telling you" Anna replied. "You have a name?" The Horsea smirked.

"Saya, my name is Saya" She said. "You're?"

"Anna" Anna replied. "Yes a human name, I don't mind it though. It was important to Angela"

"Angela is your trainer?" Anna nodded. "She doesn't seem to care about you" The two turned, to see me now crawling on all fours, beside Charlotte.

"I'll never let you get that Horsea, I'm going to ride it to the Johto conference" I snarled.

"This Horsea will pay for our trip! You can find another one later, you don't need one this now" Charlotte said. "I'm not trying to be a hardass here, but I won't let you take the Horsea, I don't give up"

"Neither do I" I said with a grin. We continued on all fours, as Anna and Saya watched me attempt to maintain my dignity.

"She does care about me" Anna replied, "And she cares about you! I think anyways, truth be told, I don't know much about her. We've only been in a few battles...and she's weird about it"

"How so?" Saya asked. Anna paused, trying to think of a response.

"Have you ever wanted to beat someone so bad, that you yell to cave your opponents head in?"

"No"

"Well she has" Anna said. "Enough about Angela though, just how did you end up here?" Saya laughed.

"Well, I was originally a wild Horsea, living in the ocean, until I got caught by a human in a diving mask. I don't know how, but I ended up in New Bark. You know how there is this little fake pond in front of the human Pokemon Center?"

"No"

"Okay, there is a fake pond in front of the human pokemon center. They keep a bunch of little water-types in there, and I don't know why. Humans keep flipping their stupid coins into it, and I really don't know why! I ate one of those once, let me tell you, I had a nasty time passing it. I didn't mind living in the pond, it was warmer and food was more widely available. I was bored though, and their was never anyone to battle with. Early today though, a Noctowl apparently had been watching us. I came up, don't remember why, and the damn thing grabbed me!"

"That sucks" Saya laughed.

"I enjoyed it! It gave me something to fight. If it wanted to eat me, it was going to have to fight for the right to eat me" Saya said with a grin (sort of). "I like a challenge"

"So, I assume you think you're pretty strong?" Anna asked, looking down at the Horsea.

"I was the strongest Horsea in that pond. I beat all six other pokemon on a regular basis" Saya bragged.

"Alright" Anna flipped down in front of Saya, "Then how about you take on me?"

"You're joking! I'd kick your tail" Saya replied.

"Well then, let's try it" Anna said. "If you loose, you have to go with Angela"

"Why would I agree to that?" Saya asked.

"It's simple" Anna said, "If you beat me, then guess what? You're every bit as strong as you thought you were. If I win, though, you're not as strong as you thought. If you travel with Angela, you will get stronger. I can promise you that" Saya thought it over for a moment.

"Deal" With that, Saya fired a water gun straight at Anna. Anna fell back, onto her tail, which she used as a spring. Suddenly Anna shot up, into the air and over Saya. Anna swung her tail, and struck Saya in the side of the head.

"Nice try" As she was struck, Saya fired off a series of bubbles that sent Anna spinning. Anna bounced on the ground, propelled by the bubbles, until she hit the base of the tree.

"Yargh! Is that all you've got?"

"Of course not" Saya said. Anna leapt at her again, leering. For some reason, leering caused Saya's defense to lower. Saya headbutted Anna, knocking her back down. Anna responded by grabbing Saya with both arms.

"Tell me if this hurts" Little green balls of energy were sucked off Saya, as Anna used absorb. Saya cringed, but tried her hardest to look strong.

"Not at all" Saya snapped, releasing a smoke screen. Smoke filled the area, something you would have thought Charlotte and me would have noticed. Anna coughed, and was forced to stagger away.

_Can't see, Saya will get me._

As if on queue, a stream of water shot through the smoke, and struck Anna upside the head. Anna fell flat on her back, but waited there.

_Alright, she can only move by bouncing on her tail fin thing, and by bouncing on water guns. If I don't move, she still won't be able to see me, and will have to come to me._

Anna was of course, right. A few more water gun shots came through the smoke, not hitting anything. A pause, then a thump. Followed by another thump, and another thump, like something bouncing. Suddenly Saya emerged from the smoke.

"Now where are"

"Right here!" Anna leapt, wrapping her arms and legs around Saya, and putting her face down in the ground. Saya fired her water gun, but got no where this time. The extra weight kept her from being able to push Anna off. In addition, Anna used her tail as a wedge, keeping the Horsea down.

Anna began absorbing over and over again. Saya thrashed, shouted, but to no avail. Anna kept doing it, easiest way to win is to keep doing what works.

Finally, Saya began to stop thrashing. She was almost limp against Anna's body. Slowly, Saya craned her head back to look at the Treecko.

"You know, that wasn't the most interesting way to win" Says said.

"Maybe not the most interesting, doesn't have to be interesting. It just has to work" With that, Anna pulled her left fist back, and walloped Saya on the back of the skull. Saya passed out without a word, as the smoke began to part. Anna let go, and stood up.

"Sorry about that, did what I had to do. Alright, heave-ho!" Anna flipped Saya over her little shoulder, and headed towards Charlotte and myself. As of this moment, Charlotte was climbing up a tree, with me a starting up.

"Why the hell would the Horsea be up a tree?" I asked.

"I dunno, why are you following me?" Charlotte responded from the top. I prepared to follow up, when I felt something brushing against my lower leg.

"Look what I found!" I glanced down, and my heart skipped a beat. There stood Anna, holding Saya over her head, a big smile on her muzzle.

"Anna, you found her!" I cried with a smile, "Oh thank you, I"

"Is that my Horsea?" Charlotte cried out. I paused for a moment, and my smile grew bigger.

"Hold on a second. I climbed up some branches, and broke off the ones above me. I broke off about six of them, leaving Charlotte twelve feet above the ground, looking at me.

"Not funny"

"Some how I doubt that" I pulled out a pokeball and tossed it at the unconscious Horsea. The ball swallowed up the water-type, didn't even shake, before closing and locking Saya inside. I leapt down, as Charlotte slowly slid down the tree.

"Really not funny!" I picked up the pokeball, only vaguely acknowledging Charlotte falling out of the tree.

"I got a Horsea!" I said with a smile, jumping up out of joy. "I'm going to name him"

"Her" Anna said, "Her name is Saya" I nodded.

"Alright fine" I grinned, "Welcome to the team, Saya"


	14. Cherrygrove City

**AN: **Hey guys. Do to summer classes starting (my winter classes end, so I can take new ones in summer, don't you all just wish you were me?) I have to go to a once a week schedule for six weeks. Sorry, but I'm still busy.

**XIV: Cherrygrove City**

Cherrygrove City is a lot like Oldale Town in Hoenn. Most notably, it's a great big load of nothing as far as cities go. No gym, no major land marks, not anything that makes Cherrygrove stand out. Rather, Cherrygrove is a city that only exists because it has a pokemon center and it's between Newbark and Violet City. I dunno, but it seems like their is a law that says their must be one town before the first gym with nothing in it.

On the day we arrived, it was mildly warm and unusually bright. I barely noticed though, with Saya out in my hands and Anna on my shoulder. Pecha, Rush, and Streak walked in front of us, and Trish hovered near my head.

"So you're Saya" I mumbled, "Just how strong are you?" Saya was still unconscious in my hands; in fact it probably was in her best interest to be in her ball. I had caught her yesterday, and she still had no energy. None the less, I held her little body in my hands, examining her.

"She's strong" Anna said, "It took me a little while to figure out how best the beat her. Sadly, my entire strategy amounted to just sucking the life out of her"

"Well, it worked" I replied. "Now, I need to get her to evolve into a Seadra before we hit Ectruteak City. I'll trade her twice to get her to evolve, before I'm up for my sixth badge. By then though, I hope to have a Kadabra and a"

"What is with all these plans?" Anna asked, confused. "Do you have the same plans for me?"

"No, of course not" I said in a reassuring voice, "I have totally different plans for you"

"...Wonderful" Anna said, "You know, I don't like having my entire future planned out"

"It's not your entire future" I replied, "It's just the parts that have to do with pokemon training. Now, you agreed to this"

"I did, I did" Anna sighed, "I want to be stronger" That was the last of it.

"You know, if I had caught the damn Horsea, we would now be much richer" Charlotte whined.

"Actually, we'd still have to go into town to transport the Horsea" Desiree said, holding Iggy in front of her. "I think ham would work well for the texture I need"

"Yes, but I'd be closer to getting us some cash" Charlotte said, "After all, it's my money we're spending on this little voyage of the damned. I should have some say so. Anyone agree with me?" Complete silence, "Fine, fuck you!"

"You know, she does have a point" Michael said, walking beside me. "As much as you dislike what Charlotte does, she's paying for this trip, she deserves some say so"

"Not when it interferes with my plans" I said, "I've been planning out this journey for more then half of my life. I will decide how things go on this trip. I have two goals, to win eight badges, and find my sister, and I won't let her interfere with either"

"I hope your goals are not in order of importance" Michael mumbled. "Well, none the less, we should at least treat Charlotte with respect. She needs us, but we need her" I sighed.

"Alright, I suppose I can do that"

"Thanks" Michael said, kissing me on the cheek. "I owe you" I smiled at this, don't know why. I'd been smiling a lot today, once again I didn't know why. Suddenly Desiree called out.

"Hey, is that?" We all looked, as Cherrygrove emerged in the distance. I started to laugh.

"The first town on my journey" I said, "This is awesome" Well, I thought it would be awesome. More on that in a little while.

It felt awesome walking on a sidewalk after two days in the woods. I could only imagine how it would feel after walking in the woods for two weeks. Cherrygrove was quiet today, not many people out.

"Alright, Michael and I are going to take Saya to the pokemon center" I said, "Charlotte, get us a hotel room"

"Why do I have to get the hotel room?" Charlotte asked.

"Cuz I said so, and I'm leading this group now" Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Come on Desiree, let's leave the Nazi's" Charlotte said, grabbing her friends arm and dragging her off. Virgil stayed behind us silent, following us as we walked. Pecha watched them go, along with the others.

"Pecha want's to go to the hotel" Pecha proclaimed, "The Worthless Rejects will"

"I wanna meet Saya" Rush said, "We get to meet a new friend today! Won't that be fun?"

"The Worthless Rejects will go to the pokemon center! Pecha needs rest and relaxation!"

"She makes a good point" I said to Michael, "When we get to the pokemon center, give everyone a quick ride on the psychedelic dream machine"

"Who makes a good point?" Michael asked, "And give who a ride on the what now?" Stupid Michael for not speaking pokemon.

The pokemon center was in a bland white building with a fountain in front of it. It was almost abandoned, always a good sign.

We got everyone handed over to the nurse quickly, and she said it would be about fifteen minutes. Michael and I sat down on a bench, only to have Virgil pull us up.

"That bench is in the corner, away from the window, perfect view of the door" Virgil said, "Harder to attack you from over there"

"You know, this watchful guardian shit is getting annoying" I mumbled, as the two of us moved to the next bench, followed by Virgil. Now on the correct bench, Michael spoke up.

"So, how does it feel to be in your first on the road pokemon center?" I laughed.

"It feels really good. Feels like I'm finally doing something, even if I don't know what I'm doing" I sighed, "I remember being on the other side of this counter in Oldale Town, it was the second time we met Robin. It was also when Anna was put into the computer..." The statement hung in the air for a second, before I continued, "Doesn't matter though. We're here now"

"Angela, what about us?" Michael asked.

"I dunno, what about us?"

"You know what I meant. What about us as a couple? We've had one make out session because you had just become human, a kiss followed by you falling asleep"

"Totally worth it!"

"You know, thanks for that" Michael said sarcastically. "Are we a couple? I mean, we're two people bonded in a way others can't understand"

"Well, uh, I dunno" I said, looking down. "Alright, I haven't thought about that, but can you blame me? I've been getting over blaming myself!"

"I'm not blaming you or anything," Michael said with a small laugh. "All I want is to make a plan for us. How about this" Michael took my hand in his, "After you win your first badge, we go on a date and see how that goes. What do you say?" I looked at Michael with a big grin.

"Alright Mr. Luccelli, I except your deal" I said, "When I win my first badge, we will go on an actual date, without any body guard"

"That would be most foolish" Virgil said.

"Blow me" It was then the doors to the pokemon center opened, and two boys entered. One was short, thin, short blue hair, and almost shaking with energy. The other was tall, dense (not really fat), long brown hair, and calm. What I noticed most though was the two were holding hands.

"Alright, first pokemon center done, aren't you excited? I'm excited!"

"Keep your voice down Riddly, the people will stare"

"Three people! Let 'em stare, I'm not going to feel bad for enjoying my self. I just want to yell out to everyone! I will not be sorry for getting high on life"

"You're high on something" The other one mumbled. The one named Riddly strolled over to the counter, and deposited four pokeballs"

"Take care of them, would ya? Thanks"

"Hey, no fair! He already has four" I pouted. Before Michael could respond, we heard a different noise, a growling. Coming from Virgil of all people.

"Something wrong?" Michael asked. Virgil looked down at us, and for once his face vaguely conveyed an emotion. I know my dear listener, I was shocked too.

"Faggots, out in public. It is enough to make my blood boil, seeing them allowed to walk free" He responded in a (disturbingly) calm voice.

"What the hell do have against gays?" I asked.

"Zangoose are taught from the day they are born three things. Mew created them to kill all Arbok and Seviper, those who abuse their bodies must die, and the trees belong to us. Faggots were deemed the worst offenders of abusing their bodies, worse so then those who inflicted damage upon themselves and claimed battle wounds. Those found guilty of faggotry would be gutted, their bodies left to rot. It is the way of Zangoose"

"Have I ever mentioned how glad I am that I'm not a Zangoose?" I asked. "Besides, wasn't your trainer bi?"

"Ms. Lisa was different. She was allowed to do what she wanted" Yeah, that makes sense.

"Why would they be called 'the worst offenders of abusing their bodies'?" Michael asked.

"The act of mating should be done for reproduction, it is sacred. Zangoose need to reproduce so their children can continue the war on the Seviper. Faggots know nothing of that"

"You know, I might be able to tell you what faggots do or don't know" We looked up to see Riddly and the other guy in front of us. "Also, just for the record, you three are less quiet then me" Michael shook his head sadly.

"I'm Michael" He said extending his hand, "This lovely lady is Angela, and the guy behind us we don't know"

"I am Virgil" Virgil growled, "Sworn protector of Angela Duncan. If you do not move away immediately, I will be forced to harm you" Riddly shrugged.

"I dunno why you hate 'those guilty of faggotry', great word usage by the way. It doesn't effect you if I'm gay, doesn't effect me if you think you're a Zangoose"

"I do a lot more then think it!" Virgil snapped. "I am a Zangoose in every way"

"Let's just go Riddly," The other guy said.

"Shush, I'm having fun" Riddly sighed, "I almost forgot, my friend, lover, and fellow denizen of Johto, Tom Niedler" Tom gave a small wave. "You'll have to excuse Tom, other people frighten him"

"Believe me, I understand" I replied.

"Do you not know how your presence offends everyone around you?" Virgil asked.

"Not really, though that would explain why people keep walking up to me and telling me how offended they are" Riddly replied with a smile.

"Your gayness is on display!"

"What do you know, your right! I guess I should stop wearing my sandwich board reading FAGGOT, and ringing my bell. Then it wouldn't be on display"

"Stop talking, or I will pummel you into the ground" Virgil snapped, "I would only need to use my fists"

"That's funny," Riddly said, holding up one hand and putting the other behind his back. "Cuz I was just thinking about how I could beat you with only one hand" Finally, Virgil snapped.

"Alright, then it is a challenge. Outside, now. I will show you what it means to challenge me" With that, Virgil stalked out, followed by Riddly and Tom.

"Should we do something?" Michael asked.

"We should watch" I replied, as we ran out behind them. Luckily, the street was mostly empty, no buildings beside the pokemon center, no one to get in our way. Riddly and Virgil had moved to the lot beside the pokemon center, facing each other. Tom stood off to the side, and we stood beside him.

"I'm warning you, don't do this" Riddly said, "I don't want to have to beat you" Virgil laughed.

"You will do no such thing" Virgil replied. With that, he charged at Riddly, both fists behind him. For a half a second, it looked like he was about to punch the other boy. Suddenly, Riddly's other hand whipped out from behind his back, holding something small and black. He fired, and two wires shot out, striking Virgil in the chest. With out a noise, Virgil collapsed on the ground, and began twitching.

"I said I'd beat you with one hand" Riddly said, still holding the stun gun. "I never said it was the one you could see" With that, he gave Virgil another jolt. "That good?"

"Nah, give him another for good measure" I said. Riddly smiled, and gave Virgil a third jolt. By now Virgils fingers had curled into a fist and his mouth was contorted in rage. I bet the skin where the prods were had been burned by now. He could do nothing though but sit there.

"Alright, let's try to keep Virgil alive" Michael said. Riddly sighed, and nodded.

"I didn't want to do that," He said, pulling the probes out of the still frozen Virgil. "Your friend just wouldn't stop though, so I decided to teach him a lesson in humility" Riddly looked down at Virgil, smiling. "No hard feelings?"

"Go...to...hell" Virgil managed to get out. Riddly just shrugged at this.

"We hope you didn't take what our friend said seriously," Michael said.

"He, he didn't offend us" Tom said, before going quiet again.

"What my silent half means" Riddly said, "Is we realized a long time ago, we'd have to deal with close minded morons all our lives. If we were offended by all of them, we'd spend all of our time being offended. That's just not fun" Riddly walked over to me, smiling. "It was fun meeting the three of you. Are you all taking the league challenge?"

"I am," I said.

"Yay! So am I. With any luck, the next time we meet it will be on opposite ends of the battle field"

"With any luck" I said, smiling. "Come on, let's get our pokemon" The four of us walked back inside, leaving the frozen and burned Virgil on the ground.

* * *

"A week as a trainer" I said, "In that time I have caught a pokemon, traveled to my second town, and met six new people"

"Don't we count as new people?" Charlotte asked.

"You're old people in new wrapping paper" It was later, and we were in our hotel. Saya had been given back to me, asked me my name once, and then gone to sleep. As you can tell, we were really bonding.

"So tomorrow we head out for Violet City?" Michael asked, holding Pecha and Rush on his lap.

"Yep. It will be glorious," I said.

"Yeah, and with any luck, you'll get your first badge right away" He stroked my arm, "I'm looking foreword to it" As we continued to talk, someone watched us.

Across the street, a figure in a yellow robe stared at our window through a pair of binoculars. He smiled softly to himself.

_Tomorrow, the rebirth of the world begins. Taggers heir is mine._


	15. A Mental Hell

**AN: **When I started this chapter a month ago, I had bronchitus which took a week to get over. When I finnished, I had a Chemestry class taking six hours three days a week, followed by several 40+ hour weeks. In fact, work got so bad that I finaly quit. I was going to update, when my laptop cable died, leaving me computerless. So finaly I am updating. I know I didn't respond to any reviewes, and I apologise.

**XV: A Mental Hell**

The remnants of the nightmare came again that night. I wish once Michael and me had had our little talk, the nightmare had gone away permanently, but it didn't. Sadly, life doesn't work like that, rather the nightmare got shorter. The setting changed, but now it didn't have an ending. Sadly, I still jerked awake when it ended.

"Gah!" I shot up, cold sweat dripping down my back.

"Nightmare again?" Michael asked, slowly pushing himself up beside me. We were in bed, Michael and me in one, Desiree and Charlotte beside us. Virgil was in front of the window, holding Charlotte's gun, asleep with it in his hands. I was shaking, but stopped when Michael wrapped his arms around me.

"Don't worry, you're safe" He whispered, kissing me.

"I know, thanks" I slid out of his arms, and out of bed. "Right now, I need a soda, I'll be back in a few"

"You sure you'll be okay?" I nodded.

"I'll be fine" I whispered, heading out of the room.

One of the reasons I had died weighing over two hundred pounds was just how much soda I drank while alive. More specifically, about a gallon a day for ten years. You try growing up with the drunken Duncans and tell me how well you do.

"Oh come on, these choices suck!" I mumbled. I also had tried to drink it once while I was an Eevee, and discovered something. Fizz will burn the inside of an Eevee like acid. "Grape it is"

The only soda machine was in a little detached building behind our hotel, beside the pool. I popped the top and headed back, when a man in a yellow cloak walked in front of me.

"Hello Angela Duncan" I paused, taking another sip of my soda, examining the man. He was dressed in a yellow robe with a round hood. I couldn't see his face due to the low light, but both of his hands were out from under the sleeves. Their was a silver cord tied around his waist, with a single pokeball hanging from it.

"Uh, hello. Do I know you?" I asked.

"Not yet" He giggled softly, "But I know you" He held up his right hand, so I could see the palm. Even in the low light, I could see a bizarre tattoo, a pyramid with an eye, and lines looping out from it. "By the will of the great serpent who lives in the sun" The eye began to glow bright red. I felt my soda slip from my fingers and splash against my legs.

"What the hell" I mumbled.

"I take you to the next plane!" The red light consumed me, until I could see nothing but red.

_

* * *

_

It's...warm

I was on sand I think, and the sun was above me. I think, truth be told I was a bit disoriented. Also, everything looked red at first.

_Alright, something weird is happening. Again something weird is happening, time to figure out what._ I pushed myself to two legs, and slowly examined my surroundings.

I was not on a beach but a desert. I was also inside of what looked like a middle age torture chamber. I know that's confusing, so let me explain. Where I had landed, it was a desert. Their was sand, rocks, and a blood red sun in the sky. Oddly, it felt comforting. It was dry, and their wasn't a cloud in the sky.

It was like this in every direction behind me, and for about ten feet in front of me. Then, the desert just stopped. The sky became a stone roof, the open world a stone chamber. Torches gave the only flickering light, bouncing off of chains and metal cages. The chamber seemed to have no end, just never ending torches and stone.

"These were called disciplinary rooms" From out of no where the yellow cloaked figure appeared again. Seriously, gone one minute, there the next. He was giggling, a wet kind of giggle.

"Where the hell am I?" I snarled.

"They were used by many religions such as ours, and even a few atheist organizations. All for the same purpose, to beat obedience into their subjects. Frankly, I wish they still had rooms like this, they were so effective" The man undid the cord on his robe, letting it hit the ground. "Sometimes you need to be punished"

The son of a bitch was dressed only in a black Speedo. His bare body was a mass of scar tissue, mostly in long red/black lines. He had no nipples; they had both been cut off. The tops of his arms were covered in small burns, like cigarette burns. His head was a bald, warped mass of scar tissue. His left eye had a cut across is, and his lips were both burned off. Strangely, my only thought was wondering how this man was able to talk, but I guessed the nature of the place we were had something to do with it.

"You may call me Peccavi, for I have sinned," He said, his dead eyes starring into my soul. "I have brought you here for my master"

"Where...where am I?" He giggled again.

"Their are three planes of existence" Peccavi said, "The physical, the mental, and the supernatural or spiritual. On the first plane, when you have a pokemon battle, you just have a pokemon battle. As for the third plane, we lack the energy necessary to exist there, to battle there. We can how ever reach the second plane, with the help of a Titan of course.

"This is the mental plane. At this moment, both of our bodies are comatose in the real world, but only a few seconds of time are passing. We will battle here, and only one of us will leave"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Look at your waist Ms. Duncan" I looked down, to see two pokeballs, attached to me by two red cords. Their was also a silver cord, except it wasn't attached to a ball. Even weirder, it jutted out sideways, and vanished after about a foot. Not stooped so much as quit existing.

"Select your pokemon" Peccavi said, "I have one, but I require only one" He held up a single pokeball. "The goal of this battle is to shatter your opponents protection. If you can land a single blow upon them while unprotected, you shall win"

"Protection? What on Earth are you talking about?"

"You shall see" Peccavi replied, "Draw your pokemon"

"No you fucking freak. Not until I know what's going on" I snapped.

"If you shall not draw yours" He said with a grin, "I shall draw mine" Peccavi unclipped his single pokeball, "Come forth my Ekans!" His pokeball opened, except he turned it at himself. The usual flash of white energy occurred, except instead of a pokemon emerging, energy coated Peccavi.

"What in the hell?" Peccavi had what looked like a shell around him. Purple and yellow, in a long tube shape. It looked like, well like an Ekans. Peccavi's arms and legs were pulled together tight, and his body was contorted in a way no human could bend it. A snake though would have no problem. Peccavi looked at me, grinning.

"Are you ready?" One thing you must give me credit for my dear listener is my ability to think on my feet. As Peccavi started to coil back, I flipped myself around, and took off running as fast as my legs would carry me.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit" Peccavi struck, smashing through a rock near me. He slithered towards me at an almost frightening pace, preparing to strike again. I leapt sideways, landing in a roll. Peccavi struck and hit the dirt, getting his snout stuck.

"Fuck, I'll take it" I ran, slipping behind a rock, out of Peccavi's line of sight. I pulled out both pokeballs. "Alright, first of all Anna doesn't have a pokeball. Second, neither are good against poison-types, and if I get killed by a poison-type they'll laugh at my funeral!" As you can see, back then I had my priorities straight even in an emergency. "Alright, we'll have to go with Saya and...of course I didn't label her pokeball. Going to have to go by blind luck"

I flipped the pokeball open, letting the energy flow over me. Oh...my...God. It felt incredible, so much better then being an Umbreon ever felt. I could see my pokemons mind in my own mind. We were one at that moment, I was two beings, I was Angela and Anna.

"Anna! Shit" Alright, now being in tune with your pokemon is not the same as being them. It's kind of like wearing a pokemon suit. My fingers felt stuffed into the three digits Anna had. My spine was...weird, let's just say weird. Anna's tail was hard wired into my ass, and once again felt weird. Finally, Anna's necklace head and mine just didn't mesh, though I could see through her eyes.

"Fine, I got Anna instead of Saya. At least I can walk" I twitched Anna's digits (which given that my feet were in shoes, was a little weird), and her tail, verifying everything worked.

"Ah perfect, I always liked reptile" My blood went cold, and I flipped. Good thing to, because Peccavi chose that moment to lunge at me.

_Anna knows quick attack, she knows quick attack, so use quick attack_

I vanished in a green blur, quick attacking away. When I finally came to a stop, I could see Peccavi coming back at me. I used quick attack, this time tossing myself at Peccavi.

"You really are to stupid to get away, aren't you?" Peccavi asked, coiling backwards.

"This is like a normal battle, except I'm fighting it, so in that case I strike!" Peccavi began to strike, when I slammed myself into his lower body. Since his body is built like a noodle, it didn't go flying. It sort of just collapsed onto me, and man did it hurt. Peccavi's body felt like stone, and striking it felt like smashing my head into granite.

"Son of a-no. Can't think about that right now, I gotta keep going. Pound!" I slammed my tail into Peccavi's head. I followed it up with a second pound, a third, and then Peccavi woke up.

"Got ya" He bit into my tail, and I could feel venom entering my Anna suit. Can't think about that. I pivoted, and punched Peccavi in the eye with my over sized Treecko fist. I followed it up with a fist to the other eye, or tried to. Peccavi swung and let go, sending me flying like a green divot.

I skidded on the ground, slamming into a rock. Sadly, the rock didn't explode into derbies, and cracked the side of my Anna suit.

"Fuck this thing is fragile" I mumbled, pushing myself onto two legs again. Peccavi was attacking again, spitting acid. I fell onto my belly, and propelled up, striking Peccavi on his lower jaw.

Peccavi was about to spit out acid when I shut his mouth. The front of Peccavi's mouth melted, as acid dribbled onto the ground.

"MYTH FAETH" Peccavi screamed in agony. "You bithc! Not the fucking faeth" I leapt onto his back as he raged, and tried to push his face down into the pool of still remaining acid, when Peccavi began to buck.

I used the little gripping spikes to hold onto Peccavi, but he swung back and forth, trying to toss me.

_Absorb_

An attack that wouldn't do much, but Peccavi was hurt. Just got to hold on, except Peccavi was now pulling himself under the ground.

_Absorb_

I of course had to go up against one of the few nuts who taught his Ekans dig. The dirt and rocks kept hitting me, and I couldn't breath.

_Absorb_

Peccavi shot out of the ground like a bullet. For some reason this hurt even more then being dragged underground, but I still held on.

_Absorb_

"Fine, don't let go" Peccavi twisted his body around, fangs out. "It'll make you easier to grab you"

_Absorb_

Bite. I recognized that attack, I felt the fangs cut through me like a knife through butter. He pulled my body off, my limbs going limp. I could feel my blood begin to dribble out, cracks covering the suit. Peccavi dropped me on the ground. He hovered in front of me, giving me a good view of his badly cracked body. I laughed at this, just couldn't help my self.

"What's so funny?" Peccavi asked, "Why the fuck are you laughing?"

"Because you robed bastard" I grinned, "I just won" I leapt at Peccavi, hitting him in the center, where he was the worst cracked. I felt the Ekans suit shatter as I hit him, Peccavi landing on his back with me on top of him. "Burn in hell you son of a bitch"

I pounded him with both my fists, as Peccavi tried to scream. No sound came out of his mouth though. Peccavi went stiff, and before my eyes he turned into dust.

"What the hell?" Suddenly, the red light returned, forcing me to shield my eyes. I could feel myself being...

* * *

...Pulled backwards, out of the mental hell and back into the real world. I landed on my ass, in some kind of liquid. A quick examination proved I hadn't pissed myself, only landed in my soda.

"Wonderful" I mumbled, picking up my still fizzing soda, taking a sip. Standing up, I walked over to the collapsed body of Peccavi.

He lay on the sidewalk, eyes open, unblinking. Peccavi was breathing, but not moving outside of the rhythm of his chest. A small line of blood was dribbling out of the right corner of his mouth.

"Let this be a lesson to any other freaks she sends at me" I whispered. Only one person who could give someone this kind of power, with a grudge against me. "I know you're out there Not Milotic, and if you hurt any of my friends, I swear I'll break you into pieces" To tired to think about this now. I headed back into the hotel, leaving Peccavi out to be found tomorrow.


	16. The Supreme Titan

**XVI: The Supreme Titan**

"Do we have to get up?" Desiree asked, "I was having this most wonderful dream. I was flying a steam boat through the sky, fighting evil waffle pirates"

"Sometimes I think you need help" Charlotte said, pulling her vest on. "You sleep fully dressed, and your arms flap around"

"I will not apologize for sleep painting" Desiree said. "I shouldn't have to apologize, should I Iggy?"

"I want waffles!" Iggy said. "I wonder if I jumped out the window, would it hurt me? Maybe if I threw Pecha out, I could land on her. She's nice and fat"

"Don't throw Pecha out!" Desiree protested.

It was the crack of noon the next morning, way to early to be getting up. I was still tired, you try having a fight with a crazy guy with no lips and tell me how you do. I cracked my eyes open, to see Michael.

"You know, I don't mind waking up like this" I said with a smile.

"Their is a guy lying outside of the hotel in a coma, with grape soda splattered on his legs. Please tell me he had nothing to do with us"

"Good morning to you too" I mumbled, pushing myself up. "Just for the record, he had nothing to do with us...me on the other hand"

"Oh God"

"Yeah, if you want to hear the full story, you're going to be saying that a lot" I replied. "Look, the guy in the robe took me to the desert in my head where we had a fight to the death. Needless to say I kicked his yellow robed ass"

"And you did not get me up and tell me because?"

"Well, you were asleep" I said, my thoughts drifting to soda. "I didn't think you'd care. You know, I need another soda"

"Angela" Michael said with a sad smile, "I promised to protect you no matter what, and you didn't think I'd care? It doesn't matter how asleep I am, if someone tried to hurt you, you need to tell me" I sighed.

"Sorry. I just...I didn't want you to worry" I looked Michael in the eyes, "I guess your kinda are" Michael slumped down on the bed beside me, pulling me close to him.

"Yeah, I am worried" Michael said, "But remember, nothing's going to harm you" He kissed my head, "Not while I'm around" I sunk into his embrace, letting the heat of his body was over me.

_You know, sometimes I believe it. _

* * *

By the time we finally got out to where I had fought Peccavi, their was only crime scene tape, and a small spot of blood. One uniform to guard the area, Johto policy is crime scenes are guarded at all times. At this moment, he looked like he was regretting a career choice that put him in full uniform in ninety-degree weather.

"Pussy" I mumbled, "Ninety is cool in Hoenn" Most of the people were also gone, no longer curious about it. No one dead, nothing fun to look at.

_He was part of the Tabernacle of the Sun, and I'd bet money they'll make sure no one finds out. I don't trust them, any group that employs a nut like Peccavi can't be trusted. None of them can be trusted. Which would mean Desiree can't be trusted?_

"Angela, you alright?" Michael asked, snapping me out of it.

"Huh? Uh not really" The others were in the lobby, waiting for us. Only me and Michael out here. He wanted to know what had happened, and now I got to explain the (literal) mental trip as best I could.

"This is where Peccavi confronted me" I said, "He said something about the will of the great serpent in the sun, or some nonsense like that. Anyways, then his arm lit up like a light bulb and I got sucked into a desert"

"What was the desert?"

"Truth be told, I don't really know" I replied. "It was a mental place, like what my mind would look like. Peccavi wasn't really interested in telling me, more interested in biting me in half. Anyways, the entire place was only like a desert. It didn't feel dry or warm...come to think of it, it didn't feel anything! It was like being on a set"

"A set? Alright, this still doesn't make sense, but I'm trying to cope. What happened next?"

"I merged with Anna and" Michael stopped me there.

"You merged with Anna?"

"Well, more like I started wearing an Anna suit" I said.

"Anna suit? How is"

"Michael, if you want me to finish my story, please save all questions till the end" I interrupted.

"Alright-alright. Sorry"

"Anyways, I was wearing an Anna suit and he was wearing an Ekans suit. Yes, an Ekans suit, and yes that was when he tried to kill me. Well first I melted his face off, then I kicked his ass as he dragged me through the dirt. I managed to break his Ekans suit, and then I punched him in the face. He evaporated then, and I got sucked back into the real world. Any questions?"

"So many" Michael replied, "But I'm going to save them for later. The guy they found was from the Tabernacle of the Sun, so does that mean they're now trying to kill us?"

"No, of course not!" I replied, "They're trying to kill me. You're just incidental"

"Oh, that's wonderful to know" Michael said, "Didn't we first come here to find your sister? Why did all of this insanity happen to us?"

"I dunno, it seems to follow me around" I replied. I walked over to the pool near the crime scene tape, looking at my reflection. "We'll survive though, won't me?" Michael came over beside me.

"Of course we will" Michael said. "We'll-" It was at that moment that a wave of water emerged from the pool and washed over me, sucking me into the pool. I only had a moment to figure out what happened, when I was sucked into the drain at the bottom of the pool. I mean sucked, somehow it was able to pull me down with no real effort.

I felt myself being tossed back and forth in darkness, until I was finally dumped into Eternity. I slowly sat up, to see Not Meowth in front of me.

"God damn it"

"Nice to see you too Angela" Not Meowth replied.

"Was their any reason to pull me here like that?"

"For fun" Not Meowth said with a smile. "Don't worry, time is frozen, your just mentally here. Angela, remember what I told you last time we spoke?"

"Lets see, that you had a leader named the Supreme Titan" I began, "That me and my sister shared something in common, and to stay away from the Tabernacle of the Sun. Nice advice, problem is they came looking for me"

"I know" Not Meowth said. "I'm sorry its come to this. I spoke to the Supreme, and he agreed with me. In fact, he wants to meet you"

"The Supreme Titan wants to meet me?" I asked, "Why, I'm flattered I think. When does he want to meet me?"

"Right now" Not Meowth said. As soon as he spoke, a ring of light flashed on beside him, coming from above. Slowly, smoke came down filling in the ring, until their was a giant pillar of smoke in front of me. "Angela Duncan, meet the Supreme Titan"

"It's wonderful to finally meet you" The pillar said. I looked at the smoke, then at Not Meowth and back again.

"Oh come on! That's a cheat, you just said I was going to meet him! This doesn't count"

"I'm afraid my identity must be kept secret Ms. Duncan" The Supreme Titan said. It was then I noticed he had an echo in his voice. "Only Titans can know my real identity. If it becomes necessary, I will reveal myself to you" I shrugged.

"What ever. Can you explain what the hell happened last night?"

"It would be my pleasure" The smoke cloud said, "Last night, the monster you call Not Milotic was working through that puppet called Peccavi. She had granted him the ability to take you to the next plane, the mental plane. That place you fought was the inside of both of your minds, though you experienced them in a way that made sense to you"

"Why was my mind a desert?" I asked.

"Gee, dry, sandy, no ocean in sight" Not Meowth said, "No idea why it was a desert"

"Alright, that makes sense" I said, "and Peccavi's was a dungeon...because he tortured himself?"

"More or less" The Supreme Titan said, "The point is, Not Milotic wanted to get you early on, before you had many pokemon and when yours were weak. Thankfully, she underestimated you and sent a weak minion to fight with you"

"So had she sent a strong one?"

"You would have lost" He stated plainly.

"Wonderful" I mumbled. "What happened to Peccavi when he lost?" The Titan was silent for a moment, before responding.

"His mind was destroyed" He finally replied. "His body will work, but Peccavi will remain in a waking come. He's alive, but he might as well be dead. Don't be surprised if in a few days a member of the Tabernacle finishes him off"

"Is the Tabernacle really evil?" I asked, "Why do they follow Not Milotic?"

"They didn't always" The Titan said, "I can't explain, you will have to find information else where. You can trust Desiree though"

"Thanks" I replied. "Alright, Not Milotic is manipulating the Tabernacle of the Sun to destroy my mind. Now the question is...well why?"

"We can't tell you" Not Meowth said.

"Even though my life is in danger...again...you can't tell me why?"

"Nope" The Titan replied.

"Why am I not surprised" I sighed, "Look, is their anything at all you guys can tell me that isn't cryptic as hell?"

"Well, we can help you fight back" The Titan said. "Their may be times you need to go to the next plane. I will give you the ability to initiate the jump to the mental plane. Hold out your left arm"

"My left arm? Oh-okay" I slowly held out my left arm, and a snake of smoke shot out. The smoke completely covered my arm, and even went into my shirt. It didn't hurt, in fact it felt a little good. Any pain in my arm vanished, and I could feel every cell hum.

The smoke began to pull back slowly, giving me a view of my arm. Now their was a black tattoo on it, three ribbons of black looping around my arm and crossing over each other. On my palm was a weird pyramid and eye, like Peccavi. Mine was longer then his though, stopping at the edge of my left breast.

"It feels warm" I said.

"That will stop in time" The Titan said. "That tattoo represents the bond between you and I. Unlike Peccavi you will not need to use a phrase, you will only need to hold your hand up and focus. You will then be taken into the mental plane"

"So, with this I can enter peoples minds?"

"Yes you can" I held the pyramid/eye to my face, grinning.

"Fucking A" I laughed. "So, what now?"

"Now? You go back, bye!" Before I could protest, a torrent of water washed down on me, pushing me back into the real world. Not Meowth and the Titan stood there, starring for a moment.

"Milotic didn't send a weakling that she knew would loose"

"No, she's up to something" The Titan said. "She's blocking us from seeing her, I don't even know how that would be possible. What worries me is she may be trying to evoke the ten emotions, or possibly even release the wraiths"

"The wraiths? Does she even know where they are?"

"She was responsible for confining the Magmar wraith" The Titan said. "I will summon the others, we need to discuss this, go to Creation now"

"Alright, I'll prepare" Not Meowth said. Before he left, Not Meowth turned to the Titan one last time. "We need to protect Angela though above all else"

"I know" The Titan said, "Milotic knows Angela's destiny, she will be in constant danger. Watch her carefully" With that, the two departed.

* * *

I emerged again beside Michael, fired out of the pool like a bullet. Surprisingly, I wasn't even the least bit wet. I landed beside Michael, who instantly began speaking.

"figure out what they want, we just need to think. Tagger wanted to kill you because...we still don't know. Not Milotic had something to do with it and do you have a tattoo?"

"Uh, yeah" I said, "Time froze, and I got sucked into a swimming pool, that had a portal to the afterlife at the bottom"

"You know, people spend their entire lives trying to prove or disprove the afterlife" Michael said, "You go there so often you might as well have a house there!"

"Well, they gave me a tattoo of great power that lets me, er, you know let's go over that later. It lets me do something"

"We'll have to tell the others Michael said, "And just how far does that tattoo go?"

"You know what" I said with a grin, "After I win my first gym battle, you can see just how far it goes. Now, let's find the others"

The three of them were in front of the hotel, Virgil silent, Charlotte on her cell phone, and Desiree holding Anna and Saya. I grabbed them from Desiree, and we began to take off.

"So guys, are we ready for Violet City?" I asked.

"To fight some flying types?" Anna asked, "Not really"

"To show how great I am in battle? I will kill all of those birds" Saya said. "I will kill them all!"

"That's the attitude!" I told Saya, "To Violet City!"

To Violet City.


	17. Her Burden

**AN: **A special thanks to my friend who beta'd this for me, and wants to remain annonymous.

**XVII: Charlotte's Burden**

"I need a Hoppip!"

Route 30 is almost a complete void. Few trainers, lots of grass and trees, nothing really to do. None of my companions seemed to notice or care about my new tattoo. Anna had asked, Saya asked if it would help in battle.

"I'm just saying, we need an edge, if that tattoo won't give us one, then get rid of it," Saya said, "We need to get strong. If it does make you stronger, I'd like mine on my right side. Also, I need to evolve as soon as possible."

"A pokemon after my own heart," I said with a grin. "You two both will be evolving as soon as possible, we'll begin training later." It was at this moment Charlotte proclaimed her need.

"You need a Hoppip?" Desiree asked, "Who's the shmuck who can't catch a Hoppip?"

"I dunno, but a four hundred for a Hoppip. We need to stop now, we're still close to Cherrygrove. If I get a Hoppip, then I can run back there, and we can keep going. Best of all, we'll have some more cash."

"Alright," Michael said, "Why not. Go on and capture a Hoppip, they're abundant here."

"Michael, you're siding with the pokemon catching witch?" I asked, "She turns pokemon into a commodity! No way can we side with someone like that!"

"Look, I'm paying for this trip," Charlotte said, "I need you, you need me. I am a part of this team, so the least you can do is treat me with some damn respect!" Charlotte shouted the last part, shutting me up.

"Alright...get your Hoppip, see what I care. Come on guys." The four of us and our pokemon moved to the side of the path, leaving Charlotte standing in the sun. We sat down on the shade, me holding Saya and Anna. Desiree began to set up her easel, placing Iggy on the ground.

"Charlotte is right, you need to show her more respect," I turned, slightly stunned that Virgil had been telling me this. "You will never be able to function if you cannot get along."

"Coming from you? Name one thing you've tried to do to get along," I asked.

"I am a guardian. I can not allow you to become emotionally attached. It is why I have been more quiet than before. I am correct though."

"Yeah, sure" I mumbled. Charlotte had four pokeballs out, and was doing stretches. Breathing in and breathing out, over and over again, when her cellphone buzzed.

"Shit." Charlotte unclipped it, took one look, and canceled the call. "Wonderful, of course they would call now. Ugh, focus on this, got to catch a Hoppip."

In the hot air, Charlotte tried to focus on the task at hand, but found it difficult. Her mind started to drift, slowly off to things she didn't try to think about. Things she actively repressed, what Desiree didn't even know about.

_Charlotte, this is your brother Thomas. Aww, he's glad to see you._

_This is Thomas! He's stupid!_

The wind slowly blew over Charlotte, still not enough to blow away the oppressive heat though. A twig snapped off the side of the road. Charlotte pivoted and tossed a pokeball.

We watched the ball sail through the air, watched it hit a Weedle, and watched the Weedle be captured with little resistance.

"Just out of curiosity, why did you think a Hoppip would be on the ground?" I asked smugly. Charlotte flipped me off.

"Shut it," she responded, running over to the pokeball. Charlotte quickly released the peeved Weedle. "Sorry."

"Bitch." Boy I wish she could have heard that. Charlotte moved back to the center of the path.

"Why do you hate Charlotte so much?" Michael asked. I shrugged.

"I don't hate Charlotte, I don't feel anything about Charlotte," I said, "She's just kind of there. I hate what she represents, people who profit from pokemon." Michael paused.

"You know, the pokemon league also profits from pokemon," Michael said, "Pokemon are their revenue source, without them they'd be bankrupt."

"The pokemon league doesn't buy and sell pokemon," I replied, "It's disrespectful to treat them like a commodity."

"Because it's much more respectful to imprison them in small balls and force them to fight each other for entertainment," Michael snarked.

"I'm not having this discussion. Professional catchers are wrong. That's all there is to it," I said, "Charlotte doesn't have to capture pokemon for a living. She can find something else to do for a living."

"You don't know that," Michael replied, "Truth be told, we don't really know Charlotte."

"Alright, let's get a pokemon's opinion on this," I said, scooping up Anna. "Anna, what do you think of people who capture pokemon for a living and sell them?"

"Well, if they get sold to loving trainers, then it all works out for the best right?" Anna asked with a smile on her face.

"Anna agrees with me, professional catchers are shit heads," I told Michael.

Charlotte by now had caught three Weedles, a Pidgey, and once accidentally hit herself in the face with a ball. Except, still no damn Hoppip. Charlotte whipped the sweat off her forehead, trying to focus.

_You left me at school again! Mom, what happened?_

_Sorry Charlotte. We were meeting with a new doctor for Thomas..._

_Again! Why are you spending so much energy on that retard?_

Charlotte was snapped out of her thoughts when a Hoppip floated by. It paused, floating up close to her face.

"Hop!" It then latched onto her nose, starting to suck.

"Fuck it," Charlotte mumbled, enlarging a pokeball. She tossed it at the Hoppip, who let go of her nose and shot down. The pokeball instead smacked Charlotte upside the head. "Oh come on! Why is it so difficult to catch one pokemon?" The wind began to blow strong, sending the Hoppip sailing away in the wind. Charlotte tossed two pokeballs, which missed the high flying cottonweed. "You won't get away that easily!" Into the woods she went after the Hoppip.

A low hanging branch cut Charlotte's right leg as she ran after the Hoppip. Blood started to creep down her leg, but Charlotte didn't care. Part of the risk of being a pokemon catcher, a minor scrape was nothing. Now, cutting her arm open on a rock, that had hurt like a son of a bitch. Almost breaking her legs, scared her but didn't hurt that bad.

"It's all worth it though," Charlotte said, "All that time by myself. Okay, I hurt myself, but I got to be allowed to hurt myself. No one trying to force structure into my life. I've just got to spend a year with these people, then I can get my license again."

The Hoppip was above her, bouncing against trees, floating through the air. Charlotte began to climb up the branches of a tree, one pokeball in her mouth. Climbing about twenty feet up, Charlotte was just below the Hoppip.

"Got ya!" Charlotte leaped at the Hoppip, and threw her arm. It was only at that moment she forgot the pokeball was still in her mouth. "Craaaaap!" Charlotte belly flopped on the flat ground. Now her nose was bleeding, and she couldn't breathe. Charlotte pushed herself up and sat against a tree, just trying to get the world to stop spinning. The pokeball was left where she had landed.

"It shouldn't be this hard!" Charlotte yelled, "I mean, for fucks sake, did I piss off a deity? Why is it everything I touch turns to crap? I lost my license, my money, my only friend is insane, and I'm traveling with psychos who hate me!" Charlotte's cellphone began buzzing. "As if I really needed this, they just called me!" Charlotte ignored the call again, and took a moment to rest.

"I could have gone to school," Charlotte said to herself. "Okay, I did horrible in high school, but it was the pot, not me! Okay, maybe spending your time with pot heads, and fucking your way through school isn't the best idea, but it was fun. I miss fun." Charlotte started to push herself up, and fell back down. "Didn't get hurt when I was high. Ugh, gotta get going again, I can sit here feeling sorry for myself." Charlotte finally got back on her two feet. "But I know why I'm doing this."

_Your parents are dead Charlotte_

_...Shut up_

_I know this is hard to hear, but we need to think about your brother. Someone like him requires a lot of special care. We need-_

_SHUT THE FUCK UP_

_Charlotte, I'm sorry! I can't change what's happened though. We will be taking Thomas._

_No_

_Excuse me?_

_I said no. I'll take care of Thomas. If you try to take him, I'll fight you._

Hoppip floated back down, staring at the bleeding and bruised Charlotte. It spun in a circle in front of her face.

"You think you're so clever don't you?" Charlotte asked. Hoppip stuck out its tongue, so Charlotte grabbed its leaf. No matter how much the less-than-one-pound pokemon tried, it couldn't get away from Charlotte's grip. "Yeah that's what I thought. I'm going to look forward to sending you away." Charlotte opened a pokeball and sucked the Hoppip inside. It didn't even squirm (pokemon Charlotte caught were like that), and the pokeball clicked shut.

Limping a little, Charlotte made her way out of the woods, caked with mud and blood. When we first got a look at her, she was a sight to say the least. Muddy, scratched and bruised, hair full of sticks and leaves, clothing torn. We ran over to her, though I came over last.

"I got my Hoppip," Charlotte said with a grin.  
"Your clothing is all messed up," Michael said.

"Fell out of a tree, tore it, got it dirty. I'll buy new clothes in Violet City."

"But you're bleeding!"

"Then I'll buy new blood. Don't worry, this is nothing compared to some of the stuff I've done to myself in the past."

"It's true," Desiree said, "Charlotte one time took a header on a rock, I thought she was dead for sure that time. Can I borrow some blood, I want to give my next painting a more realistic feel." We looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

"No you can't have my blood you walking paint sample," Charlotte snapped. "Look, I need to go back to Cherrygrove and send this ball off. You guys wait here for a little while, I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"You just expect us to wait here for two hours?" I asked, "Hell no. We're not going to do this overtime you catch a pokemon. You can wait until we get to Violet City. It'll only be a few days." Charlotte's phone started vibrating. "I think you need to get that."

"It can wait," she said, "I can't however. I'll be back in two hours."

"You can't leave!"

"Two hours!" With that, Charlotte took off, leaving us there.

* * *

"You know, Cherrygrove is much nicer when you're by yourself," Charlotte said, tossing the Hoppip's ball back and forth. "Alright, just send you off, and then I'll collect a nice paycheck."

The pokemon center was full of people today, and a long line to the computer. Charlotte had the address of the box she was supposed to put the Hoppip in. She unclipped her cellphone and dialed the number of her client.

"It's your dime." Ugh.

"This is Charlotte," she said, "I acquired the pokemon you asked for, and will be sending it to you immediately. I expect you to do the same thing with my money." Laughter in the receiver, Charlotte noticed his voice sounded kinda wet.

"Listen babe, how about you do me a favor and bill me later? I can promise you the money, don't worry. I just need to not be paying for stuff right now. So, be a doll and hold off for a few days, kay?"

"I'm sending it now," Charlotte said, "And if you haven't paid me by the end of today, I'll track you down and cut off your dick. If you think I'm kidding, test me. It'll be fun to visit you." There was silence on the other end.

"Alright, I'm sending the money now. You know, you're a hardass bitch. There is no reason to get cross."

"Yeah, well when I'm not paid, I tend to get that way." Charlotte then hung up. She paused for a moment, before dialing a second number. Charlotte was greeted with an automated system, which she moved through quickly. Finally, she got to the right person.

"Hello, Dr. Acheson?"

"Hello to you Ms. Charlotte" The doctor said. "Are you coming to visit Thomas anytime soon?"

"Well, no Doctor. How is Thomas doing though, is he happy?"

"He's doing fine Ms. Charlotte. Thomas misses you though, you really need to come and see him."

"No. You can tell him I miss him though I guess. If he even knows who I am. Half the time he has no idea!"

"He knows who you are Charlotte, he just misses you." Dr. Acheson paused for a breath, and Charlotte knew what was coming. "Charlotte, I've been informed your last payment was late again." Charlotte sighed.

"I know. I've been getting calls from you guys all day, I've just been ignoring them. I have the money, I'll send it today. Don't worry about it."

"Have you considered moving your brother to a state hospital? It would be much less stressful and not cause the financial burden these payments do." Charlotte grit her teeth, and counted to ten.

"There is no burden, and I'll have the next payment there immediately. Good-bye Dr. Acheson." With that Charlotte hung up and moved up to the computer.

"They can suggest all they want to," Charlotte said to herself, loading the pokeball. "Angela can hate my guts. They can call me a bad person, a lousy sister, I don't care. I'll take care of Thomas, and no one is going to stop me." The pokeball vanished into the computer. Charlotte turned and walked out of the pokecenter.

She had a long way to go.


	18. Bonding

**AN: **Sorry, chose not to update on the 4th. Anyways, this is the unbeta'd portion, I'll put up the beta'd one soon. Untill then, enjoy!

**XVIII: Bonding**

"Well, bad news guys, I only ended up getting one hundred for the Hoppip" Charlotte said, as we began walking off again. "I know it was only one fourth of what I expected, but what are you going to do?"

"Wait what the fuck?" I cried. "You're the one who keeps griping about having to be a piggy bank, and you can't even get all of the money you were supposed to for those pokemon? I mean, if you're going to sell your soul, er pokemon, why not get the full price for them?"

"Meh, Charlotte's always giving discounts" Desiree said, "In the two years we've traveled together, she's rarely bringing back half of what she says she'll get"

"Is that true?" Michael asked Charlotte. She shrugged.

"I just wanna help people..."

"I understand, I also like helping people" Michael said, "But sometimes you have to put your foot down and get your full payment. You've got to think about what's best for you"

"Gee, I'll keep that in mind" Charlotte replied, clearly planning on ignoring the advice. Charlotte pulled back and started walking beside Virgil, behind us.

"Something is bothering you" I heard Virgil say. "Is their any way for me to help?"

"Zip it, psycho boy"

"It's in your best interest" Michael said, allowing us to continue in silence. Anna and Saya were on my shoulders, we were taking the day off from training. Instead, we were going to work on a new team activity.

"Anna, Saya, what are your goals in this group?" I asked. A simple question, but an important one for me to know. Saya was the first one to speak up.

"My goal? I want to be stronger" Saya said. "I want to be a Kingdra, fierce dragon of the sea! Nothing matters more then being the strongest"

"Finally, a pokemon after my own heart!" I exclaimed.

"I'd argue over that" Anna said, "Being the strongest pokemon in the world would be miserable! You're always having to train, always knowing some day, some one will be stronger then you and will defeat you!"

"I'd love that" Saya said with a laugh. "I thirst for battle, my ideal death is in battle. Their is no opponent stronger then me, I'll just train until I'm even stronger then they are"

"You can't train enough" I said, "In fact, if you stop then you fail. Their is no point unless you're able to defeat all your opponents" Saya laughed and nodded, Anna closed her eyes and shook her head. "Alright Anna, what do you think?"

"Well, what you're doing sounds cruel and doesn't sound fun" Anna said, "It sounds like work. I don't want work, I want to get stronger, but I also want to enjoy doing it!"

"Fun is over rated" Saya said, "I'll be the strongest Kingdra alive, then I'll go and personally kick Chello's ass"

"Who is Chello?" I asked.

"A water-type I knew back in the ocean. He was older then me, stronger then me, mocked me as weak. In fact, most of them mocked me as weak, but when this is over, I'll show them all" Saya said. "Strength is the only thing that matters in the world, and I'll be the worlds strongest"

"I'd like to argue that point" Anna said. "It's not possible to be the worlds strongest water-type unless you track down each and every water-type, then beat them in combat" Saya opened her...nozzle mouth thing to protest, but snapped it shut immediately. "Water-types reproduce the fastest, so you're going to have to travel the oceans, fighting more and more of them. A sea of pain, an ocean of fighting, but who cares, you'll be the worlds strongest!"

"Alright, maybe it's impractical, but it's a dream" Saya said. "But a dream is all I need. That and tons of training. Angela, you will train me to be strong enough, or else"

"Or else what?" I asked, "Also, don't you find it the slightest bit weird that I'm able to understand you?"

"I just kind of figured that was something humans can do" Saya said. "Truth be told, I'd only ever met a few humans, like the one I had catch me. Instead of training me, he dumped me in that damn fountain where kids kept tossing coins in. Those things are horrible to eat, just so you know"

"Good to know" I mumbled. "You were in a fountain?"

"It's a long story" Saya said, "I'll explain later"

"I also have a goal for this journey" Anna said. "Though not as difficult as your goal, it's still important. I want to, well I want to be a part of a team. Find a bunch of people I like to be with, and to never be alone, in the dark again"

"I dunno" Saya said, "I'm of the belief of, you're only as strong as the weakest part of your team. If you really want to be part of this team, you're going to have to work"

"Given that I'm running this team, shouldn't I be giving this speech?" I asked, though both of them ignored me.

"I'm more then willing to do that" Anna said, "I'm just happy to not be in that ball anymore. I-I was afraid that I would die alone in there, no one to morn me. T-That's really my greatest fear, to die alone. Do you know what it's like to be alone?"

"Of course not" Saya said, "You live underwater, you can't find time to be alone, I'd have killed for less pokemon"

"No you wouldn't have" Anna said, "When you're alone, all you have is your thoughts. Your thoughts hate you though, and they never show up. Weeks go by, and you're starved for some kind of companionship, anything. You yell, cry, and nothing will bring others. All because of that red haired bitch"

"Hey, watch it" I snapped. "Look, I know what Robin did to you, and I'm sorry. You can't just badmouth her though, she was a good person. Not perfect, but who is?"

"She definitely wasn't" Anna said crossly. "I don't want to talk about Robin though, I'll end up depressed"

"Alright, Anna what is your favorite thing in the world?" I asked. "Saya, I can guess yours, fighting"

"Wow, you're clever" Saya said with genuine awe.

"Yes I am, and don't you ever forget it" I said, "So Anna, what's your favorite?" Anna shrugged.

"I don't think I have a favorite thing" Anna said, "Or maybe, finding something is my favorite thing. I like finding and learning new stuff, cuz I didn't know it before! Being locked in that ball for so long meant I never got to see anything, and now I just want to see the world I missed"

"Well, that's nice" I said, "you'll get to see a lot. Let me tell you, when I traveled through Hoenn, I got to see so much new crap. Most of it boring, but new"

"Will we meet any more grass-types?" Anna asked. "Truth be told, I've only ever seen a few others in my life. Or maybe a fire-type of some kind, they exist right?"

"Of course they exist! You said Torchic got picked over you"

"Torchic is fire type? I figured it was just awful" Anna said. "Mudkips too, they're terrible"

"Hey, Rush is a Mudkip" I said. "Is he terrible also?" Anna paused for a moment.

"Yes, he is a Mudkip" Anna said, giving us no answer. "I don't like water-types much, sorry Saya"

"Meh, I don't like them either" Saya said.

"They're used by so many people, everyone wants the water-type, the Mudkip" Anna said. "It's just something I can't get over"

"I-I actually get that" I said. "No matter what people say, their are just some things you can't get over. For me it was...it was the death of my mother"

"Oh, that sucks" Saya said. "Did she at least die well?"

"I-I think she did, I dunno" I replied.

"Who was your mother?" Anna asked. Ugh, I hated that question.

"She was" I smiled "The most wonderful women I ever knew. She helped me rebuild myself from the darkest time of my life. I-I'll miss her" Both of them were silent for a moment after I finished talking.

"I lost someone too, sort of" Saya said. "I had a sister, except I never knew her. She died before I was born, because of something. I dunno what happened. I should feel something here, but I can't feel anything, I never met her. She just kind of died"

"That's terrible" Anna said, "I'm so sorry for you"

"Be sorry for my parents, even after I was born they were still all distraught over it. I never could make them feel better, so I stopped trying" Saya replied. "I learned how to not care what people think about me"

"You've gotta care some what" Anna said, "You should try to be liked"

"Nah, being liked is like being fucked, it's highly over rated and you have to pretend to care about the other person" Saya said. "I don't care, unless they are really important to me why should I? Yeah, if they're important I care, but otherwise why bother?"

"Well, you should at least pretend" I said to Saya, "You find things work better for you when you're nicer"

"Yeah, maybe, I don't care" Saya said. "What is your plan for our team?"

"My plan?" I asked, "What makes you think I have a plan?"

"Please, even I know you have a plan" Anna said, "You spend every day thinking about it, you even talk about it in your sleep"

"Well, yeah I do have a plan" I said. "You two of course are going to be the spine of my perfect team"

"Alright, I get to be a spine" Saya said with an almost-grin.

"I need either a dark or psychic type, some kind of flying type, an electric type, and a steel type. Maybe a Shuckle instead, I dunno. The point is, I need this team I have built up in my mind. It'll allow me to take down all eight gyms, and maybe even make me champion of Johto"

"What happens after you become champion of Johto?" Anna asked.

"Then I will go on to become the undisputed champion of the world, defeating all opponents and crushing the weak. Trainers will look up at night and know that I am watching, waiting to break them!" I yelled, shaking my fist. Now everyone was starring at me. "...Sorry"

"You know, you can get extreme at times" Saya said, "I like it"

"I dunno about all of that" Anna said "truth be told, I don't like it when people are unhappy, but I'll still beat them since you need me to. I won't enjoy it, but I guess you can't always enjoy everything"

"Meh, being stronger is a good thing" Saya said. "Yeah, you gotta step on a few skulls, but when you evolve you'll feel so good. Or at least so I've been told, have yet to do it myself. When I become a Kingdra though, it will be awesome! I can get hit by lightning and it won't matter"

"I doubt you can survive being hit by lightning" Anna said.

"I'll be a Kingdra, I'll be able to breath in space" Saya said with confidence. "You'll be a Sceptile, which probably means something also"

"Thanks" Anna said. "I'm just, I'm kind of nervous. What if I loose?"

"You won't loose" Saya said, "You got me on your side!"

"Suddenly my confidence received a huge boost" Anna said sarcastically.

"It should have" Saya said, "You're my teammate. Okay, we don't agree on much, but who cares? We don't need to agree, I'll support you until the bitter end. I'll train with you, I'll help you. I know you'll do the same for me"

"Yeah, I will" Anna said. "So, does this mean we're friends?" Saya laughed.

"Of course we're friends you green scaled nut"

* * *

A few hours later, we began setting up stuff for the night. Michael was reading over the directions for our Insta-Food!

"Add powder to pot of boiling water, then stir for thirty minutes" Michael read. "I have no pot, I have no boiling water, I have nothing to stir with, and the powder is causing me to break out in hives"

"Meh, you're being a wuss" I said. Desiree was painting us for some reason, and Charlotte was setting out a blanket for us to sit on. Virgil was standing there, of course.

"If you're not going to help me, don't complain. Just out of curiosity, what are you doing?"

"I'm observing and offering helpful criticism" I said. "It's important that if you mess up, someone tells you just how much you suck"

"Gee, thanks" Michael said, "You have the pot in your bag. Get it, get over here, or your getting a face full of powder"

"You wouldn't" Michael tossed it, covering me from face to boobs in powder. "I've got three more pouches, just try me"

"Alright, I'm coming" I mumbled, grabbing my pot and a water bottle. I filled it up all the way, and handed it to Michael. He looked at it, and the fire we built.

"How do we hang it above the fire?" I shrugged, placed it beside the fire, grabbed the pouches and dumped them in. "Problem solved, I guess. How did group bonding go?" I grinned.

"For once, it went really well. Saya and Anna got along well, or better then I thought they would. Saya is especially my kind of pokemon, she's strong, she knows how to fight, she knows that death is for the weak!"

"Your using your Satan voice again" Michael said.

"Sorry. Anyways, I'm not going to forget Anna, it's just Saya's a nice balance" I said. Michael was smiling now. "They're a great duo to build my team on and why are you smiling?"

"Nothing, I just like hearing you talk about pokemon" Michael said.

"Good, then hear this. When we get to Violet City, I'll take down Faulkner without loosing a single pokemon!" Well, not quite what happened my dear listener.

We'll get to that later though.

**AN: **Insta Food! is based on a real product, sadly, that only came in powder pouches.


	19. Violet City

**AN: **My laptop could die at any time, so if I vannish for a long period, I'm not gone, just needing a new laptop.

**XIX: Violet City**

"Isn't it beautiful?" I asked with a small squeal. "It looks new, shiny, it looks like a city whose gym leader I will crush!"

"Nice to see you've got your ambition under control" Michael said. "Today is Sunday, gym is closed"

"...Damn it" We had at long last arrived in Violet City. Okay, maybe not so long, maybe only a few days after leaving Cherrygrove. Screw it though, it's my first city and my first gym.

"Pecha demands to know what is so special about this city!" Pecha suddenly cried out. Currently Pecha was riding on the head of Virgil, Rush riding beside her. Pecha kept pulling on Virgils hair, trying to move him like a robot.

"It's a gym city!" Rush chirped happily. "Gyms are always fun, even when you get knocked out. I got knocked out by a rock once!"

"What rock dared to knock out Rush!" Pecha cried out.

"Do you always have to talk like your acting for a propaganda film?" Virgil asked, "You remind me of Ms. Lisa's ex-girlfriend who talked nonstop about the importance of color"

"Why are you talking to a Pikachu?" Charlotte asked, "Better yet, why are they on your head?" Virgil did not reply, clearly the answer was not important to him.

"I wish we were still" Desiree said, "I can't paint this city if we keep moving"

"I don't want you to paint the city" I said, "I just want you to be quiet, I'm still not sure why you're here"

"I just want to draw a picture of Violet City in flames, a giant Iggy towering over it, laughing maniacally!" Desiree said with a sigh. We all stared at her for this strange comment. "Wouldn't Iggy look cute?"

"Sure" I mumbled, as we began to walk down the hill. After walking through the woods for a week, it was so good to feel pavement under your feet again. "My God I need a shower. I don't even like to shower, but I think I have shit in my hair"

"I know what you mean" Michael said, "When I did this in Hoenn, the first place I went to was the bathroom. Then the laundry room, then to bed. Oh beds feel so good"

"I didn't know you went on a pokemon journey" Charlotte said, "Angela, why didn't you go with him?"

"I did go with him" I said with a laugh.

"Then...why do you act like this is a whole new experience?" Charlotte asked. Michael and me shared a glance. Well, I was on that journey with him, I just happened to be an Umbreon at the time.

"It's a long, long, one hundred and thirty chapter story" I replied. "I promise I'll tell you guys later, right now let's find a hotel"

"Angela!" Streak proclaimed. I gave a shriek, where the hell had he come from and how was he on my shoulder. "How are you prepared for your gym battle?"

"My gym battle tomorrow? I dunno, I'm going to attack and not let Falkner get an edge. If I take the lead, I should be able to knock him out fast"

"Even though Anna will get knocked out after one flying-type attack, and Saya is only marginally better off?" Streak asked.

"...You know, you're a buzz kill" I replied.

"I'm a realist" Streak said, "Your strategy needs to be like the ocean, a wave that crashes upon Falkner. When he prepares to strike, you need to pull back and prepare to crash again"

"Do any of your metaphors not involve the ocean?" I asked.

"Probably not" Streak said. At least he was honest in his insanity. Charlotte had her cellphone out, moving rapidly.

"Alright, since my cash reserves are low, I found a cheap hotel advertising a Construction Worker Discount. No idea what that means, but we can afford one room"

"Does it mean we have to be construction workers to get the discount?" I asked Michael.

"No idea, we'll find out when we get there"

* * *

"This can't be right" I said to myself.

"Is this legal?" Charlotte asked.

"Look! I can see a masturbating bum!" Desiree laughed.

Our room was a nightmare. It had no carpeting, wood everywhere, no window, no bathroom, and two cots for beds. The windows had clear plastic over them. The hotel in question was only two stories, with the second under construction.

"They can't honestly expect us to live in an unfinished room!" Michael protested. I laughed slowly, turning to him.

"Tap dancers in the room above us" I stated.

"...You're right, this isn't even close to the worse thing that could happen to us" Michael said. He dropped his bag on the ground, causing the plywood to crack under the bag. "It's going to be a long couple of days"

I sat down on the cot, brushing dirt and small moving things off. Michael sat down beside me, looking up at the ceiling.

"So, ready for Falkner?" Michael asked me. I shrugged.

"I think I'm ready, but I need to do something" I stood up, scooping up Anna and Saya. "Back in two minutes"

"The last time you said that, a cultist ended up brain dead!" Michael yelled out.

* * *

"That'll be twenty-nine exact" The bored cashier told the guy in front of me. Anna and Saya both were looking around the Pokemart, both a little confused.

"Why are we here Angela?" Anna asked, "You're not buying pokeballs are you?"

"No, I don't need any pokeballs" I replied. "I need to place something on order. I read back in Cherrygrove you can now order some technical machines from pokemarts"

"What's a technical machine, and how can it help me win?" Saya asked. "We need to have an edge kid"

"Call me kid again, and I'll step on you" I replied. "It will give us an edge though against Falkner, if we need an edge. If not, it'll give us an edge against Clair"

"Who?"

"We'll get to her later" I replied, stepping up to the counter.

_

* * *

_

3 days till it arrives, that'll work

I was barely paying attention, when the ground in front of me exploded in a cloud of blue smoke. As the smoke cleared, a boy dressed in shiny blue shit appeared.

"It is I, Dean Baker the III, having returned to challenge" I walked into him, knocking him to the ground and knocking his top hat off. "Angela!" I paused, and turned around.

"...Oh yeah, you were the blue boy" I mumbled, helping him to his feat. "Why exactly do you dress like a Christmas ornament?"

"That is not the point" Dean said, posing as he talked. "The point is this, "I have come to challenge you again, and to reclaim my lost honor!"

"Dude, I think you should go reclaim your lost top hat" I stated. Dean turned, and watched his top hat blow into the air, before a Pidgey grabbed it and flew off with it. "To late"

"I can get another" Dean replied. "No, we will not think about that now. I see you have two pokemon now"

"Yep" I said grinning, "The Horsea on my shoulder is Saya"

"Fascinating, for I two have two pokemon, also grass and water-type! Send your Treecko out!"

"Alright, Anna you're up" I said. Anna did a summersault off of me, and landed on the ground. "Send out your pokemon" Dean did a twirl (?) and tossed out a pokeball.

"Totodile, appear!" Dean's Totodile emerged in front of us, giggling. "Now, use your water-gun!" Totodile shot out a jet of water, which Anna avoided simply by ducking. She launched herself at Totodile, striking him in the belly. Totodile fell over backwards, rolling away.

Totodile jumped up, and ran at Anna, jaws opening and closing, attempting to devour Anna. Anna slammed her tail into his stomach, pounding him out of the way.

"Leer Totodile" Dean shouted.

"Avoid and quick attack Anna" I said. Anna easily moved of the way of the slow moving Totodile, and then rushed into him. Totodile was knocked straight up, and came down hard on his belly.

"You know, you could stop right now" I said, "And I wouldn't have to continue to bruise your pokemon"

"Never!" Dean said. "Totodile, rapid fire water gun!" Anna dodged as Totodile shot a bunch of streams of water at her. A couple of water guns did hit Anna, distracting her for a moment. Totodile bit down hard on Anna, digging his teeth in. Anna smiled though at this.

"Exactly as expected" I said, "Anna, absorb"

"I wondered when you would say that" Anna said. Orbs of energy were sucked out of Totodile's body, into Anna. Totodile began to get weaker, but Anna grew stronger. Totodile collapsed, and Anna emerged virtually unscathed.

"You fought well water warrior" Dean said, sucking Totodile back. "Your time is done. Angela, withdraw your pokemon, I wish to fight against your Horsea"

"Alright, Anna come on back" I said. Anna hopped back over, climbing back onto my shoulder. "Saya, ready?"

"To fight? Do you have to ask?" Saya said, hopping off. "Bring it on" Dean began to dance with a second pokeball.

"Come out my Bellsprout" Dean tossed out his pokeball, a Bellsprout emerging. "Now I have type advantage, an advantage that you do not have"

"You're right, I don't" I said. "Saya, beat the Bellsprout without using any water-type attacks"

"The only moves I know that aren't water-type are Headbutt and Flail"

"Is that a problem?" I asked.

"Not really, I just thought you needed to know" Saya said. "Five minutes, if I don't have it beaten, then I deserve to get my ass kicked"

"Vine whip!" Dean shouted, again doing a pose. Bellsprout whipped one of its vine legs at Saya, who blasted herself out of the way with a water gun. Bellsprout whipped back and forth, and Saya blasted herself in a circle. Eventually though she slipped up, and Bellsprout smacked her upside the head.

"Flail" Saya slammed the lower half of her body into Bellsprout. She slammed it back again, but Bellsprout wrapped Saya up.

Bellsprout pulled Saya close, attempting to crush her I think. Saya pulled back and headbutted Bellsprout as had as she could. Bellsprouts rope like body caused its neck to bend all the way back and let go of Saya.

Saya used her body again like a flail, tossing Bellsprout to the side with ease. Bellsprout picked itself up, only to see Saya shoot a smokescreen out, which filled the small area.

"Bellsprout, vine whip the smoke until you find the Horsea" Dean shouted out.

"Oh please" I mumbled. "Saya, you know what to do" Bellsprout moved quickly, randomly vine whipping the smoke, hoping to get luck. Saya waited though, knowing when best to strike. Bellsprout moved so it had its back to Saya.

"Night night" Saya said, launching herself head first into the back of Bellsprouts head. Bellsprout hit the ground, and Saya began to slam her skull into the Bellsprout.

Wham-wham-wham-wham! Over and over, until the smoke cleared, and Bellsprout was out cold. Saya looked at me, grinning.

"Fantastic Saya, though you got a little bloody I see"

"Meh, the cost of battle darling" Saya replied, jumping back over to me. Dean withdrew Bellsprout, and sighed.

"You did wonderful again Ms. Angela" Dean said, "I don't understand though, how did I lose?"

"You told your Totodile to just fire randomly, and your Bellsprout to just swing vines randomly. You can't figure out where your train of thought of the rails?" I asked. "You have a few good ideas, but you need more strategy. Think fast, knock your enemies even faster. If you can knock them out fast, they can't defeat you"

"...I'll take that into consideration" Dean said. "For now I must go, farewell Ms. Angela" A puff of blue smoke consumed Dean, which parted quickly and revealing a top hat on the ground.

"Wait, he lost his hat, so where did this come from?" I asked myself.

* * *

"Well, I'm back" I said, walking inside, only to see Michael holding Charlotte's gun. He was accompanied by Virgil, with tape around his knuckles. Charlotte was behind them, holding Pecha like a bomb, and Desiree didn't seem to be paying the slightest bit of attention. "...What's going on?"

"Uh, well" Michael dropped the gun. "The last time you took to long, you were having a mental battle with a fanatic, and almost ended up comatose"

"Meh, it wasn't that bad" I said. "Dean, the blue moron from New Bark showed up to battle with me. He was better this time, but not better then me of course. Anyways, Saya beat the Bellsprout so hard she started to bleed, so I took her to the pokemon center. Then I was hungry, so I went and got a popsicle"

"...You couldn't have made a call and told us?"

"I didn't think you'd worry, besides you get to be in this lovely room" My left foot cracked the wood I was standing on. "Relatively speaking" I moved over to the cot, setting Anna and Saya down. "The two fought really good for me today, it was good practice for tomorrow" Michael sat down beside me.

"When I was getting ready to battle Roxanne, I was so nervous I could barely sleep" Michael said, "I was going in with a pokemon who had been in one battle, and another who had never been in a battle. I can tell you this, any strategy you have will go flying out the window when you're starring at the gym leader. Your hearts pounding, and in hindsight you don't know why. Even if you loose, you can try again, hell I lost twice against Winona. I think, if you enjoy it, your strategy will stay with you" I laughed.

"Michael, if you don't think I'm enjoying this, you're out of your mind" I said. "I've wanted to do this since I was a child. I cut out pictures of pokemon trainers, and pasted them onto my wall. I joined the Isshu Certification Group just because if Isshu gets a league, then their are new gyms I can take on some day! I am loving this, and I can beat Falkner. Just give me a chance"

"I know you can" Michael said, "And I'll be there with you. Tomorrow you take on Falkner" I grinned.

_Tomorrow, I kick Falkner's ass_


	20. Vs Falkner

******AN: **Well, reviews are down, reminds me when I started ALNM. Reminds me I don't need a lot of reviews, just so long as people enjoy the story. Anyways, here is our first battle against Falkner!

**XX: Vs. Falkner**

Johto was the only region not to have a rock-type gym as the first gym in the city. Now as you know in the sixty plus years since then, things have changed, but at the time Johto was the only to start with flying types.

None of the starters right now are particularly good against flying-types. Cyndaquil I guess would work the best, though I don't know why. Totodile works fine also I suppose. Chickorita sucks, plain and simple sucks here. She also sucks at the next gym, and the sixth gym, and the seventh, and the eighth.

I woke up nervous, at three in the morning. Michael was beside me, Anna and Saya on top of me. I closed my eyes, only for them to come open a second later.

"Alright, no sleep, don't need sleep, champions don't need sleep," I mumbled,  
"Just have to go against Falkner and get my badge, how hard could that be?"

_You have nothing strong against flying-types, and Michael won't let you borrow Pecha. Anna is actually weak against the fucking birds._

"I still hate Winona, and now I hate Falkner, and I haven't even met him!" I ranted silently, "Also, it said he has a level 13 Pidgeotto and Noctowl. Pidgey doesn't evolve until level 18, and Hoothoot 'till level 20! How the hell does he have those two if they don't evolve until later!

"At least he doesn't use the damn Skarmory in battle, then I really would be fucked. Also, why does he dress like he just walked out of 19th century Japan?"

I sighed, and went back to staring at the ceiling.

* * *

"Ah, I slept great," Michael said with a smile, sitting up. "How did you sleep?" It was five hours later, and I had spent all of them awake. I turned to Michael, face holding back barely-contained rage. "...What?" I slugged him across the jaw, knocking Michael back, and waking up Anna and Saya. "One day you're going to break my jaw," he groaned.

"Why did you wake us up? I was having a wonderful dream," Saya said, "I was beating back hordes of mutants, while dressed in leather."

"...You're a Horsea, what kind of leather thing would you wear?" I asked. Saya just shook her head, clearly I wouldn't get it. Anna sat down on my chest, looking down at me.

"Do we have to go up against flying-types?" Anna asked, "They-they make me nervous. I don't want to get hurt."

"Anna, I know you don't, but if you're going to get stronger, you will get hurt."

"I know," Anna replied, "I'll do it, I just don't want to do it. I want it to come easy for me, but that's not going to happen is it?" I shook my head, and Anna's head drooped. "I was afraid of that, I'll deal with it though." I smiled softly, moving Anna and Saya off my chest, and standing up.

"I'm going to go take a shower," I told Michael.

"We don't have a shower, we have a hanging hose and a hole in the floor." I paused.

"Alright then, I'll go take a hose," I snapped.

* * *

"You claim that what I do is taking advantage of pokemon, making money off of them," Charlotte said, as we stood outside of Falkners gym. "Doesn't the league and gyms exist to make money off pokemon?"

"Ask that again, and I'll shove your head so far up your ass, that it'll come out again," I replied. It was still early, before many people would show up at the gym. Anna and Saya were on my shoulders, Michael was holding Pecha and Rush, Virgil holding Streak. Desiree had Iggy on her head, and kept tilting her head while looking at the gym.

"So, first gym battle," Trish said, landing on my shoulder, "This must be familiar for you."

"Yes, but this time I'm not the one fighting, I get to give orders," I said, "Which you think would be of some comfort, but not so much."

"Well, we'll be cheering you on from the sidelines," Trish said, "Is that of any comfort?"

"Actually, it really is," I said. I sat Anna and Saya down, and pulled the door to the gym open.

The gym was empty apart from a receptionist who looked bored. Also, she was dressed in 19th century robes. Weird.

"My name is Angela Duncan, I'm here to battle with Falkner." The receptionist sighed.

"He's available, trainers through the door on the left, spectators through the door on the right." At this, Trish fluttered back to Virgil. Michael and the others headed to the door on the right.

"Kick ass Angela," Michael said.

"No problem," I replied. Before going into the gym, I turned to the receptionist. "So, do the people who train and work at the gym have to dress like that, or is it by choice?"

"Falkner believes that the gyms dress should reflect flying-types," she said, "Since flying-types were most important two hundred years ago, that's how we dress. Yes, Falkner is insane, best not to talk about it."

"I'll keep that in mind," I mumbled, heading into the gym. Falkner's gym reminded me a lot of Norman's, more specifically, it was plain. Just wood floor, two mats, bleachers, and a retractable roof. On the far end of the room, Falkner stood on his mat, eyes closed.

"State your name and your purpose, you who have challenged Falkner!" he shouted. This was going to be a long one.

"I am Angela Duncan, here to defeat you and earn my first badge," I said. Falkner laughed at this, though I don't know why.

"You wish to receive your first badge," Falkner turned to me, eye open, and I noticed his other eye was covered by his hair. Why would you cut your hair like that? "Alright, we will see how this battle goes then. Send out your first pokemon Ms. Duncan."

"Okay then, Anna you're up." Anna walked off of the mat, preparing for what came next.

"Noctowl, you are up now!" Falkner said, tossing his pokeball sideways. As the ball shot open, I noticed he had attached Skarmory feathers to the ball. A Noctowl exploded from the ball, wings flapping, starring down Anna. "You may begin."

"Anna, use quick attack."

"Noctowl, hypnosis." I was worried about that. If that attack hits Anna, then she'd be knocked out in no time flat. Anna shot off like a bullet, while Noctowl began to fire off psychic eye donuts. Noctowl zoomed after Anna, trying to hypnotize her. Anna cut left, left, left, left, attempting to get behind Noctowl.

Noctowl fired a blast right into the path of Anna. Anna got out of the way fast enough, and lunged at Noctowls underside. It didn't seem to have even a slight effect. Noctowl attempted to bend its body and grab Anna in its beak. Anna slammed her tail in between Noctowl's eyes, distracting it long enough for Anna to get out of the way.

"Leer, then pound again," I yelled. Anna leered at the Noctowl, long enough for it to swoop down and hit Anna with its Sky Attack. Anna flinched as she was hit, sent spiraling across the room. The first attack that made contact, leaving Anna's underside bruised and even causing her to bleed a little.

Anna shot off again, another quick attack, while Noctowl followed, pecking at her. Anna dogged back and forth as she ran, managing to avoid Noctowl's beak, but for how long?

"Gah!" Anna leapt backwards, using her momentum to carry her. She pounded Noctowl's head, which drove the bird into the ground. Noctowl hit the hardwood beak first, scraping across the floor, badly hurting the flying-type. Anna stood away from Noctowl, panting and waiting to see if the bird got up again.

"Arise my Noctowl" Falkner said, "And tackle the grass-type." On queue, the Noctowl came back to life, flapping its wings slowly. It flipped around, looking at Anna and grinning with its beak.

"Did you really think I was done that easy?" Noctowl asked. Anna turned to run, but simply wasn't fast enough. Noctowl tackled Anna in the back, throwing her into the ground.

"Okay, that hurt a lot," Anna mumbled, standing up. Noctowl hovered in front of her, preparing to tackle Anna again. Anna instead ran and jumped into Noctowl, grabbing the feathers on her underside.

"Absorb!" I yelled. Anna did just that, sucking green orbs of energy out of Noctowl and into her. Sadly, absorb did next to nothing against the Noctowl due to the type difference, and thus restored little of Anna's health. Noctowl flew upwards, straight up towards the ceiling, Anna holding on tight.

"Dive bomb," Falkner shouted. Noctowl dove straight down, becoming a brown blur. Anna held on tight, even as the floor approached, absorbing all the way. Noctowl came with in inches of the ground, pulling up at the last minute. Anna though was too close, and ended up dragged along the hardwood.

At this point, there was no way for Anna to hold on, and she was pulled off, feathers still in her tiny fists. Slowly, Anna stood up again, her back scraped completely raw. She wouldn't give up though, still standing and still ready and able to fight against the damn bird. Which should have gone down by now, but nope.

Anna quick attacked, throwing herself at the Noctowl's face, slamming herself into the bird. It was becoming apparent though just how weakened Anna was, because this attack did next to nothing. Noctowl instead latched onto Anna's arm with its beak.

"Anna, get out!" I cried. Noctowl tossed Anna straight up and started pecking at her. Keeping her in the air, pecking her in the air, every time drawing blood. Noctowl finally stopped, only to head butt Anna into the ground.

_Can't...can't let her win_

Anna stood up, wobbling on her legs. She lunged at Noctowl again, who easily avoided her, causing Anna to fall flat on her belly. Anna made it to her knees, only to have Noctowl use a sky attack and knock her back. Anna flipped over, so that she was looking up, grinning.

"So, there is no way for me to win huh?" Anna asked.

"You fought valiantly," Noctowl said. With that, Noctowl swooped down and slammed its body into Anna's. Anna jerked once, and passed out from the attack. Knocked out cold, and Noctowl was just fine.

I walked out and scooped up Anna's unconscious form. She looked so tiny in my hands, so broken.

"You did great," I whispered, kissing her forehead. "Saya, you're up"

"I will kick ass, for great victories!" Saya shouted like a loon. She hopped onto the field (awfully mobile for a creature with no legs), and stared down the Noctowl. Although Anna hadn't beaten Noctowl, she had badly weakened it, so Saya didn't have a completely uphill battle.

"Noctowl, sky attack." Noctowl flew up, and then swooped down. Now, when a flying-type is dive bombing, it's deadly on impact. However, if you strike it in attack, it won't be able to stabilize. Saya leapt out of the way, and fired a water-gun, which hit Noctowl in the side. Noctowl lost control, and slammed skull first into the ground.

Noctowl got up yet again (what will knock that thing out?), and shot at Saya, striking her. Saya absorbed the blow, and swung her body again, using flail. She hit Noctowls backside, again causing Noctowl to hit the ground.

Saya continued to use flail, not letting the bird get up. After about three or four flails, Noctowl finally stayed down, knocked out.

"Return Noctowl!" Falkner shouted. He tossed out another winged ball, "Come forth my Pidgeotto!" Pidgeotto appeared, towering over Saya. Saya started to giggle softly.

"And here I thought it would be a challenge. Bring it on you feathered piece of shit." Pidgeotto started flapping its wings rapidly, using gust to try and lift Saya up. This ended up not being to difficult, since Saya had absolutely no way to hold on to the ground.

Saya was lifted up, and Pidgeotto grabbed her with its beak. Saya responded with a headbutt above the beak, causing it to let go of Saya. The Pidgeotto tried to grab Saya again, but no luck, the Horsea hit the ground and bounced back. Saya fired off a smoke screen, filling the arena with smoke and hiding the two pokemon.

"Alright, try and find me now," Saya said.

"Gust," Falkner commanded. Pidgeotto rapidly flapped its wings, blowing all of the smoke away, exposing Saya.

"...Damn it." Pidgeotto lunged and pecked Saya between the eyes. It quick attacked Saya once, then swung around and did it again. Saya fired a water gun, but Pidgeotto just blew through it, striking Saya in the chest with its beak. It drove Saya into the air, Saya mounted on its beak, wincing in pain. It then swooped down, 'till it hit the ground, and drove Saya into the wood, badly harming the Horsea.

"Saya, get out of there!" I cried. Saya attempted to flail, but the Pidgeotto simply moved out of the way. Saya was dragging, beginning to bleed, she wasn't going to make it much longer. Pidgeotto was just fine of course.

Pidgeotto pulled back, and swooped again, preparing to knock out Saya. I waited as it got closer, just close enough.

"Saya, water-gun in the eye," I yelled. Saya fired, blinding the Pidgeotto. It swooped up, passing above Saya. Saya leapt, head butting Pidgeotto in the underside, driving her skull in deep. Pidgeotto gasped, flapping rapidly to stay in the air. Saya fired rapid water guns, trying to ground the bird.

"Enough of this battle," Falkner yelled, "Pidgeotto, end this foolishness now and defeat that Horsea. So says Falkner!" If someone knows what the hell Falkner was saying, I'd really like to know. Pidgeotto took this to mean, grabbing Saya by the body in its beak, because it did just that.

Saya squirmed in the bird's mouth, but the fucker held on tight. It tossed her in the air, using quick attack to hit Saya before she came down. Saya hit the ground, barely moving. She made it up one more time, only to watch as Pidgeotto circled her with incredible speed.

"Ariel Ace," Falkner ordered. Pidgeotto shot out, and cut across Saya, stopping behind her. Saya wobbled back and forth, and then collapsed unconscious.

We lost.

Fuck.


	21. Three Days In Violet City

**AN: **Well, I'll be leaving the country in a few days, as such I'm doing a three day, rappid update. No beta due to lack of time on my part. I'll be back two weeks from Thursday.

**XXI: Three Days In Violet City**

**Day One**

We lost. We lost. We lost. We lost. We lost.

No matter how many times I told myself that, I still couldn't believe it. I lost at the first freaking gym. How! I lost to Falkner, to a dofus wearing robes and weird clogs, who spoke like Thor.

"Again, water-gun" I said. We were outside of Violet City, in the woods, training. I had a plan worked out, one day of training for Saya, one day for Anna, a half a day for both, and a half a day for rest while I picked up my TM.

"I feel so bad" Anna said to the Worthless Rejects. "I lost the battle for us. If I had just been able to knock out Noctowl, we would have been able to win the match"

"Yes, you would have" Trish said, "Just like if you hadn't taken a single hit, you would have won the match. You didn't though, and you got two choices. You can whine, and pity yourself, or you can prepare to pluck the birds"

"I think I'll whine" Anna said, "It'll feel good"

"Meh, don't whine" Iggy said. He was starring near Anna, not at her (being blind made it a bit difficult). "I say be pro-active! Or be anti-active if you want"

"What does that mean?" Anna asked.

"I dunno, but you know what, who cares" Iggy said, "As Desiree says, it's not the words that matter, it's the sentiment. The sentiment is that, you can win this, just stay positive. Remember, no fear"

"I'm not afraid" Anna said, "Not of Falkner. I should be though, it's weird. Flying-types are scary, and yet Falkners don't frighten me anymore. I've seen them fight, and they didn't kill me yet. I'm still not exactly eager to fight them again"

"Pecha could defeat the foul death birds with only a flick of her paws!" Pecha said. "Pecha is amazing, and would lead the grass-type weakling to vic-" That's all Pecha got out before Anna pounded her in the side of the head. It didn't do anything much, but still.

"You know, if you listen to Pecha long enough" Anna said, "She'll suck out your mind and replace it with crazy"

"Rush's mind hasn't been replaced" Rush chirped.

"What mind?" Trish asked. She fluttered down beside Anna, and pecked Pecha between the eyes.

"Do you want to start something death bird?" Pecha asked, jumping back up.

"Bring it on furball" Trish said. She rammed into Pecha, who began to zap the small metallic bird. The two rolled off to the right, attacking each other.

"Surreal" Streak said from behind Anna. "So Anna, what are you going to differently? You have no attacks that will work currently" Anna shrugged.

"Well, I'm not even planning anything, Angela does that. I mostly try to stay alive and survive the damn battle. It hurt being in that fight, I mean it hurt a lot"

"I'm sorry" Streak said.

"Don't be" Anna replied. "It hurt, I don't often get to experience pain. Yeah it sucks, but it's better then feeling nothing. I like feeling new things"

"Even if those things hurt?" Streak asked.

"If she's less afraid, it hurts less" Iggy said, hopping over. "At least, this is what I've found to be true"

"Are you afraid of anything?" Anna asked.

"Nope" Iggy said. "I discovered you can't be afraid of what you can't see, and I can't see at all"

"Were you always blind?" Anna asked. Iggy thought about it for a moment, and shook his head.

"I was born with sight, I think. My mother said I was, except it started to go away. The earliest thing I remember were shapes, and colors. Color and light, their was only color and light. It was pretty, but the color and light went dark pretty soon. After that I was in darkness, but you learn to adjust"

"I didn't" Anna said, "I escaped my darkness after a year imprisoned in that ball. When I was first in there, their was a forest. Except none of it was real, fake grass, fake trees, fake water. Over time, the forest flickered, it faded, and eventually it went out altogether" She clenched her eyes closed for a moment, before opening them again. "I barely survived. I begged Arceus for death at times, and instead he sent Angela to save me"

"I'm rather glad Angela did save you" Iggy said, "I believe my life is more interesting for having met you" Anna smiled.

"Iggy, I'm still scared" She whispered. "Even though I said I'm not, I'm very scared, not just of the birds. Of what else is going to come as we go on, I don't know what I'll do"

"...I can't make you less afraid" Iggy said, "You'll have to do that"

"Can you at least help me though, I mean help me start to overcome...my...problems?"

"Fear isn't a problem" Iggy said, "It will help you in the long run. I just don't have it because I don't need it" Anna's head drooped. "I will help you though, I have to hurt someone who needs it"

"T-Thanks Iggy" Anna whispered, hugging the Chinchou. Streak sat in the background, watching them.

**Day Two**

Today it was Anna's turn to train. Currently, I had her leaping through the trees above me, trying to get her to move faster.

"Jump up to that branch, then down through the one on the next tree. Your speed is your greatest asset Anna, we need to boost it"

"Fine, but can I stop soon?" Anna panted.

"Five more laps, then we'll stop" I replied. Anna nodded, pausing for a moment to catch her breath, then took off again.

"I should be out there doing this again" Saya said. "Anna is going to be at a disadvantage at this gym, I am not. Angela should boost me, and focus on Anna later"

"Is Anna at an advantage for any gym in this region?" Streak asked himself.

"I feel useless sitting here and not doing anything!" Saya shouted. "If I'm not doing anything, I'm driving myself crazy"

"Do you think about anything else?" Trish asked, fluttering down beside Saya. "Their is more to life then just fighting other pokemon"

"Like what?" Saya asked. Trish thought about it for a moment.

"Well, claiming territory, exploring the world, making friends, finding a mate" Trish paused on the last one, and Saya laughed.

"A mate for me? Meh, let the others find a male, I have no interest in them. I have no interest in anything you have said. No, it's the thrill of combat that sets me a blaze, I need it! Life is to boring when you're just sitting around"

"I wouldn't mind some boring" Trish said. "...I've had a hard couple of months"

"What happened?" Saya asked. Trish laughed softly.

"Anna doesn't even know" Trish looked off, at Pecha, Rush, and Iggy. The three were off with Desiree, who was painting Iggy standing on them. "The others...will hate me for telling you. You'll find out eventually though"

"Find out what?" Trish sighed.

"Their were others in our group" She began. "Bane, Titan, Dex, Shu, Sharon, Nel, Wisp, Lisa, an-and Flash" Trish was struggling, but she continued. "They were-they-they were my friends"

"Stop" Saya ordered, causing the Skarmory to freeze in mid-word. "This is hurting you. You want to tell me, and it looks about as easy as digging your heart out with a spoon. Well, I'll wait to hear this story, your friends will be able to tell me what happened"

"Thanks" Trish whispered.

"It hurts you" Saya said, "That's all I need to know" Trish sighed.

"Being miserable sucks" She said. "I can grieve all I want to, but it never goes away. It's a weight always around my neck"

"Then stop being miserable!" Saya snapped. "Okay, your friends died clearly, so stop thinking about them! You think they'd be happy with you being miserable?"

"Of course not!" Trish said, "I don't often think about them, that's how I've been able to deal with it. Except, when I do think about it, it still hurts. You're right, I'm not going to think about it now"

"That's the smart thing to do" Saya said. "Trish, why don't you battle?"

"I don't have a trainer mostly" Trish said, "And fighting random, weak-ass pokemon gets boring. I'd like to fight more I suppose, just to break up the boring in my life"

"Gah!" Anna suddenly crashed into the ground in front of them. She pulled her head up, shaking dirt off, and looked at the two confused pokemon. "Uh, lost control of my jump, I'm okay now! I'm okay, and I'll just jump back" Anna leapt off, heading back towards the trees. Saya and Trish just starred.

"Is our team always this odd?" Saya asked.

"You get used to it" Trish replied. "Did you know that Angela and I used to be good friends? Now we don't talk, but we used to all of the time"

"What happened?" Saya asked.

"Well, our friendship pretty much fell apart when Angela became human" Trish said. "That hurt it a lot" Saya opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again.

"What?"

"Angela wasn't originally human" Trish said, "She was an Eevee, then an Umbreon. Of course, she said she had been human before, so who knows what she was, I don't care."

"I never knew she was human!" Saya said.

"You didn't find it the least bit odd that Angela can speak to pokemon?" Trish asked.

"I figured she had taught herself to do so, to give us an edge in battle." Saya replied.

"Of course" Trish mumbled. "Is everything important in life an edge in battle?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Saya asked. "It seemed perfectly reasonable for her to go out of her way to learn our language for no reason other then to succeed in battle!" Trish laughed at this, and after a minute Saya joined in.

As they laughed, Streak sat and watched them.

**Day Three**

Rain poured down outside, soaking the plastic sheet that covered our window hole. I slammed my head against the wooden wall.

"Why am I in here!" I asked, flipping around to look at Michael. "Why did you bring me in here? What were you thinking? I could have been training"

"Excuse me for not wanting you to get struck by lightning" He replied. Smartass. "Now come and sit down, install that TM you ordered already."

The Pokemart had called earlier, and I had gone out and grabbed the TM. It had started raining as I headed back, and now I was soaked from head to toe.

"I don't even know if this thing will work or not" I mumbled, slumping down on our cot. I pulled Anna and Saya on to my lap. "I mean, it got soaked out there, it might shock the ever loving fuck out of her"

"I highly doubt it" Michael said, "My only question is how that disc thing will stay strapped to Saya's head"

"It has a band." I replied, pulling on the small elastic band. "Should be enough. Alright, might as well try this. If Saya dies though, you're paying to have her cloned"

"I will pay for the cloning" Michael said with a surprised smile. I frowned, but picked Saya up. She had been sleeping, but now cracked her eyes open.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to put this on your head" I said, holding up the TM, "Drill the attack Ice Beam in to your brain, and cause you to fight better."

"Awesome" Saya fell asleep again. I strapped the TM to her head, and clicked it on. The little disc began to spin, and Saya's eyes jerked wide open. Her body went rigid in my hands, it would do that for a while.

Anna woke up as well, and walked over to Saya. She tapped the frozen Horsea a few times.

"She won't move" I said, "Not until that disc finishes." Anna flipped Saya upside down, and left her balancing on her head. She then fell asleep again. "So cute."

I sat down and started watching the TV they had wheeled into our room. We had complained enough that they put a crappy TV on a cart and rolled it in.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Attack Of The The Eye Creatures" Michael said, "With two The's"

"It's crap! It's just shots of people running around in rubber suits." I said. "Why are we watching a terrible movie?"

"Because it's terrible." Michael replied. "Their is a certain perverse joy in watching a truly horrible movie, I love them."

"Oh come on, surely the others don't want to watch this." At this point in time, Charlotte was passed out on her cot, mouth open, under dripping water. When her mouth filled up, she sprang up like she was drowning. Desiree was drawing the scene, while Virgil stood watching us like a stone goblin. "Awe, fuck it." I slumped back, watching the shit movie.

"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?" Michael asked, "What do you plan to do different"

"My goal with Anna is to get that Noctowl knocked out. She almost did it the first time, now she's two levels higher. Even if it's still a struggle, eliminating the first bird will make things much easier. Then, Saya will ice-beam his Pidgeotto"

"It'll take a few of those." Michael said, "Even with the ice beam, it'll still be a hard won fight."

"I can deal with it. I've got to ice the wings, that's my first goal. Pidgeotto needs to stay grounded, so Saya can pound his head in to cookie dough."

"Wouldn't ice-beaming it's head be a lot easier?" Michael asked.

"Nope! Besides, Saya begged me to allow her to smash that birds head in" I replied.

"Speaking of which, Saya is unfrozen!" Saya snapped, "Now, she wants to have this disc off, and to be right side up!" I giggled, pulling the TM off, and flipping Saya back up.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Well, I know Ice Beam now." Saya said. She fired one off, encasing Anna in ice. "I think I feel pretty good." I grabbed Anna, and started to thaw the Treecko.

"Alright" I said, "Stay focused, and prepare yourself for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we kick Falkners ass!"

"Yes!"


	22. The Rematch

**AN: **Hey, I'm back from Mexico, with the new chapter I promised to have up before I left! No real excuse, I just had writers block. Anyways, enjoy.

**XXII: The Rematch**

I could barely sleep the night before my rematch. Don't know why really, just something kept me awake. Anxiety perhaps?

"Mother-fucker, I did this four days ago!" I mumbled, staring at the ceiling. "Alright, I disable his birds and then...what?"

_You let Saya do her thing, and knock them out_

"Then why am I nervous?" I asked myself.

_Because you don't like losing. It would be easier to smash both their skulls with a baseball bat. Okay, so it would be a tad morally questionable..._

"A tad?" I asked myself.

_Alright, fairly questionable. You probably shouldn't even be thinking about it, people will think you're crazy._

"That's just what I would need" I mumbled, rolling onto my side. "People thinking I'm crazy" I closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up feeling like I had been electrocuted. My limbs felt stiffer, my stomach felt heavier, and I was still nervous. Michael was up with me, rubbing my shoulders.

"You don't need to be nervous" He said. "You're a good trainer, you were just at a type disadvantage. No need to worry, I promise."

"But what if I'm not a good trainer?" I asked. "What if it's just the first sign of a long, hard, pointless journey, ending with my ruination and broken spirits."

"...You know, you can be a major buzz kill." Michael said, continuing to rub my shoulders. "Don't worry about it. Even if your spirit breaks, your pokemon abandon you, and you end up an alcoholic living in an ally, I'll be there holding your bottle."

"Thanks." I said with a smile. "Make sure it's gin. Anyways, I know I'm worrying about nothing, especially given that I did this once! Yet...I don't know! I just want my damn badge, I earned it last time."

"You lost against him," Michael said, "And for this you deserve a badge?"

"If I was going up against Watt I'd have a badge!" I cried out, "He offered you one when you lost to him."

"And I refused."

"For which I pointed out you were a dumb ass." I replied. "Ugh, it could always be worse I suppose. I could be going to a fire-type gym."

"...How is that worse?" Michael asked.

"Well, back in Hoenn we had a fire-type gym," I said, "And it was the only gym I never got to participate in!" Michael looked at me like I was crazy. "What?"

"You did nothing at all in Mossdeep." Michael said. "You sat beside me, and watched as we fought the Twincest Duo. Why is Flannery so special?"

"I did too participate in Mossdeep!" I protested. "I helped you by giving you advice that helped you win."

"Telling me to use the Umbreon is not participating." Michael protested. "Also, you shadow-balled me after the battle was over, and threatened to defecate on my face."

"Bah, that qualifies as participation" I replied. "If it weren't for my helpful advice, and calming nature, the battle would have been lost."

"How is hitting me with a shadow ball calming?" Michael asked with a smile. I paused for a moment, before replying with a brilliant come back.

"Shut up!"

* * *

"Do you ever think that their is a cause for all of this?" I asked Michael. "A reason behind all of the insanity?"

"A reason behind the events in life?" Michael asked. "Yes as a matter of fact, I believe in a grand scheme behind things. I think all the events in your life are just pieces of a puzzle, and only at the end will you be able to look at it all and understand it!"

"No dumbass" I snarled. "Is their a reason I couldn't win last time? What caused my strategy to fall apart like a house of cards!" Michael paused for a second before responding.

"I thought you were pondering the meaning of life"

"Why would I do that? Life means me winning this, finding my sister, and blowing Not Milotic's head off with a grenade launcher" I replied.

"Who the hell is Not Milotic?" Charlotte asked, "And what was that about a sister?" God, I really needed to remember to be quiet.

"Uh-well" I began.

"Charlotte, I think the answer is obvious" Desiree said. "Angela has a sister who is not a Milotic, whose lost and can't be found!" She was cuddling Iggy, who would occasionally shoot sparks off.

"That's the most sane thing you've ever said" I mumbled. "Guys, it's personal. Sorry, I just can't tell you"

"...I can understand" Charlotte replied.

"What was that?" I asked. Before Charlotte could reply, we arrived at the gym. "Uh, never mind I guess" We entered the gym, the cool air rolling across my skin. _Cold? Fuck me, I'm actually becoming used to the temperature here!_

The receptionist looked up at me, laughed, and pointed to the trainers door. I moved without saying a word to the others, carrying Saya and Anna with me.

"Alright, I've been looking foreword to this" Saya said, grinning like a loon. "I'm going to hit that bird. In fact, I'm going to keep hitting the bird over and over until it finally gets knocked out. It will be so freaking awesome! I rule!"

"Good to know" Anna mumbled. I could feel her heart hammering through her chest, but I chose not to comment.

When we entered the main gym, Falkner was already on his mat. He had his back to us, and had a mirror out, combing his hair over one eye. He sighed.

"Why have you chosen to enter the realm of Falkner, master of all things that fly?" Falkner asked. I opened my mouth, only to close it to shut again.

"What?"

"You have returned to challenge me again" Falkner spun around, an impressive feet given his wooden shoes "I do not understand, victory is impossible for your caliber of trainer"

"Shut up ya one eyed bird screwer" I snapped. "Let's just get this done so I can get out of here"

"As you wish Ms. Duncan" Falkner replied. "Send out your first pokemon" I nodded, placing Anna and Saya down.

"Anna, go kick some butt" I said.

"As you wish" Anna replied. Anna rushed out, as Falkner pulled out a ball with wings on it. Seriously, why do they all have wings on them?

"Noctowl, come to me" Falkner shouted, spinning as he threw the ball. Noctowl burst out in a bright flash, wings flapping.

"Anna, quick attack into it, bounce off" I yelled. Anna ran and jumped, plowing her tiny body into the owl. Even though Anna weighed next to nothing, and had little force in the attack, it still managed to knock the Noctowl sideways. Noctowl attempted to grab Anna's tail with its beak, but Anna jumped off, landing in front of the bird.

Noctowl shot at Anna like a bullet, trying to hit my Treecko. Anna instead leaps and quickly sprints across Noctowls back. She slammed her tail into the bird before jumping off, unharmed.

Being unharmed didn't last though, as Noctowl swooped around, and pecked Anna in the back. Anna fell on her stomach, and moved out of the way fast as she could. Noctowl turned around, flying straight at Anna. Anna leapt up, and pounded Noctowl in the side of the head with her tail.

"Have I ever mentioned I don't like you?" Anna asked.

"You might have mentioned it once or twice" The bird replied. Anna managed to twist her body, so she landed on top of the Noctowls head, holding on to it's feathers. "Are you planning to get off any time soon?"

"Only when you go down" Anna replied. Anna began to punch Noctowl between the eyes with one little green fist, trying to harm the damn bird.

"Shouldn't have let go" Noctowl said. It whipped its neck to the right, throwing Anna off. Anna hit the ground, skidding to a stop.

Noctowl began to flap it's wings rapidly, tossing Anna into the air. Anna was tossed back and forth, slamming into...wind? I dunno, but Anna's underside began to become bruised.

"Quick attack!" I yelled. Anna suddenly shot off with a burst of speed, punching through the wall of air, and hitting Noctowl in the face. Anna's eyes opened wide as they could, since she had more or less rammed herself in to Noctowl's beak. None the less, she pulled back both fists, and hit Noctowl in both eyes.

Noctowl shrieked, causing Anna to fall. As she fell, Anna absorbed from the owl, restoring a little health. Noctowl opened its bruised right eye, but the left eye remained clenched shut.

"Ariel ace" Falkner commanded. Noctowl shot to the right, the cut down and to the left, across Anna's chest. Anna screamed in pain, a cut appearing across her body. She closed her eyes, and started to breathe slowly, regaining her composure.

"I'm not done yet" Anna said, absorbing again to heal the cut a little. Noctowl flew to the right again, and swooped down, repeating the Ariel Ace. Except, as Noctowl cut, Anna grabbed onto its face again, being pulled up with it.

Noctowl glared at Anna with its eye, and Anna responded by punching it in the eye with both fists. Anna fell out of the sky, as Noctowl screamed again. Anna landed, and both of Noctowl's eyes were now swollen shut. The freaking bird was now blind.

"Was it your plan all along to blind my bird?" Falkner asked.

"The pokecenter can fix it, I gotta win" I replied. Noctowl tried to use Sky Attack, but didn't even come close to Anna. Instead, Noctowl hit the hard wood, to the far right of my Treecko.

"Ariel Ace" Falkner commanded. Again that bird cut into Anna, using an attack that would always hit, stupid bird. Except, Noctowl swooped to close to the ground, slamming face first into the wood.

"Tackle" I shouted. Anna ran and plowed into Noctowl. She pounded on Noctowl's skull with both fists and her tail, draining the entire time, weakening the flying-type. Noctowl tried to fly upward, but had been so weakened that Anna could pull it back down. Noctowl fluttered, struggled, and tried what ever it could to get away from Anna, but it didn't matter. After a few minutes, Noctowl stopped trembling and passed out. As it did, I couldn't help but notice Falkner smirked.

"Very good Ms. Duncan" Falkner said, tossing out a winged ball to recapture the Noctowl. Anna turned to me, smiling, swaying back and forth. Their were two cuts across her body, forming an X. Anna didn't have much energy left, but she had done her job. Hell, she did it even better then I expect, something that impressed me to no end.

"I'm going to switch out my pokemon now" I said to Falkner. "Anna, come on back" Anna stumbled over to me, bleeding slightly. I picked her up in my arms.

"D-did I do well?" Anna asked.

"You did better then I ever thought you could" I replied, kissing her muzzle. "Saya, your up"

"I'll rip it limb from limb" Saya said.

"That's the kind of drive I like!" I yelled. Saya hopped out on to the field, ready to fight. Falkner pulled out another ball with stupid wings.

"Pidgeotto, come to the aide of Falkner!" Falkner shouted, throwing the flying ball. Pidgeotto shot out of its ball, fluttering above Saya.

"Saya, water gun" I commanded. Wait before using Ice Beam, wait until that damn bird is closer.

"Pidgeotto, gust" Saya fired off a blast of high velocity water, only to watch Pidgeotto's wings beat rapidly. The water was beat back, and fell harmlessly to the ground. Saya began rapid fire water guns, but Pidgeotto knocked all of them back.

Pidgeotto swooped down in a tackle, head first straight at Saya. Saya fired another water gun, non-stop hitting the flying-type in the face. The bird didn't slow down though, instead ramming into Saya.

Saya was sent flying like a blue golf ball. To cushion her landing, Saya fired off bubbles, softly touching down.

"Should have used the ice beam then" I mumbled, "To late for regrets, gotta keep fighting."

"Pidgeotto, sand attack." Falkner ordered.

"Saya, water gun and tackle." Pidgeotto swept up a cloud of sand(?) and flapped it at Saya. Saya fired water every where, hitting sand and causing it to hit the ground with heavy thuds. Saya then fired herself straight at Pidgeotto, hitting the bird in the chest with all her might.

"Now, ice beam" I commanded. Saya, head still buried in the birds feathers, fired off the ice beam. Pidgeotto's chest (but not wings) were instantly coated in ice, as was Saya's head. Of course it was.

Saya squirmed, while Pidgeotto swung its body back and forth, with Saya trapped on the bird. Pidgeotto flew close to a wall, and began ramming Saya's struggling form into it. Still not removed.

Pidgeotto swooped down, scrapping Saya's body across the floor. This finally worked, shattering the ice and causing Saya to hit the ground.

"Owe. Okay, let's end this" Saya mumbled, jumping back up again. Pidgeotto flew at Saya, wing extended, catching Saya in the chest. Saya fired her ice beam, encasing Pidgeotto's wing in ice. She then fell to the ground, away from the flying-type.

Pidgeotto attempted to stay air borne, but it was a futile attempt. Pidgeotto began to spiral out of control, landing on its back on the hard wood. The bird began to peck at the ice, attempting to break its wing free. Instead, when it began to peck, Saya fired another ice beam. Now instead of having a free wing, Pidgeotto's head was attached to it's wing.

The body of the Pidgeotto jumped around, one free wing still fluttering. Saya hit the other wing, freezing it. Now all of the birds upper body was frozen, but it was still moving.

"Got to give him credit" I said, "Falkner taught his pokemon to never say die"

Saya fired an ice beam again, encasing the floor around Pidgeotto, and its lower body, entirely in ice. No more moving, just a frozen Pidgeotto, unable to fight.

"Your Pidgeotto can no longer fight" I said, "So, that would mean this battle is mine."

"Yes, I suppose it would." Falkner replied. He tossed out Pidgeotto's winged ball, pulling the pokemon back, ice cube and all. He was definitely smirking, as he pulled out a badge.

"The Zephyr badge Ms. Duncan. You have earned it." Falkner then tossed it, and some how that little badge made it all the way across the gym, landing at my feet. I bent down and picked it up. "Now, never enter the domain of Falkner again!"

"No problem ya freak." I said with a grin. I had beaten my first gym, and one my first badge.

Fuckin' A.


	23. Michael and Angela On A Date

**AN: **I hated writing this one. I always try to draw on my own well of experience, but here the well had run dry. My experience in dating has been...disturbing, so I don't know how good this chapter is. Even still, I hope you enjoy.

**XXIII: Michael and Angela on a Date**

"Look at my badge!" I giggled. "It's so shiny, and when you touch it, it makes a noise." I touched it gently in my palm.

"I know that feeling." Michael said. I licked the badge, much to everyone's surprise. "...Don't know that feeling."

"It even tastes like victory" I said. "It's a sign that I will go out and conquer, burning all others and crushing their skulls under my feet!"

"Their is something wrong with you." Charlotte mumbled. She was shuffling two pokeballs between her fingers, while flipping through the TV. "Wow, this looks like crap, let's watch."

We were back in our hotel room, while it was raining. As such, water poured through holes in the wood (which their were a few). The hotel had given us buckets to put under the water flow. Virgil had removed one and was now sitting under it, letting the water pour over his head. Desiree was beside him, painting, and occasionally cleaning her brush in the water.

"Isn't that cold?" Desiree asked.

"It will build up my endurance, so that I may better protect Michael and Angela" Virgil replied. "I can not show weakness."

"You know, their is a different between showing a weakness, and just being a moron." Desiree replied. "I'm just saying. Now, give me some of your hair, I need texture!"

"You know, we're going to need to do something about Virgil." Michael said. I was laying with my head on his stomach, and his arm was draped across my chest. Anna and Saya were both asleep on top of me.

"Why is that?" I asked. I started rubbing the badge again.

"Well, tomorrow is our first date." I froze in mid-rub. "It's what we agreed to"

"Yes we did" I said. "Huh. Is it to late to call it off? Not that I wanted to, but suppose we did it at a later date?"

"No way in hell" Michael replied. "We'll meet in our room tomorrow at six. I wish I could talk about what a great date I have planned, but I can't afford what I had planned."

"...Alright" I said. "We'll meet here at six, but we'll spend tomorrow apart okay? So I can, uh, do something?" Now everyone was starring at me.

"Okay, we'll both do something" Michael said with a smile.

* * *

"A first date." I said to myself.

"Just remember" Desiree said, "If he asks to put your paintbrush up your ass, the answer is no." Charlotte and me looked at Desiree. "What?"

It was the next day, and Michael was out buying supplies. The rest of us were in our room, none of us willing to leave. I guess we could have gone out and done something, but that might have required energy. Meh, we'd have to move, to much effort.

"I've never been on a date before." I said. "I mean, I've have boyfriends technically. More like sex buddies, but they said they were my boyfriend. They'd come over to my house, and ask me if I had twenty minutes, and we-"

"Please, no details!" Charlotte said.

"I don't do well with human interactions..." I mumbled.

"Nah, really?" Charlotte asked. "If it's any consolation, you're not the most socially brain dead of our group."

"Eat sponge!" Desiree shouted, smearing a sponge full of green paste on a canvas.

"Hell, you're not the second most brain dead."

"Who sent you!" Virgil shouted at a Pidgey who had accidentally flown into our room. Virgil held it in one hand, a sharpened piece of wood in his other. "Who are you working for!"

"So, if nothing else, take comfort in that." Charlotte said.

"That's not much to take comfort in" I mumbled. "I should-I dunno, do something special. I should shower!"

"Yes, most people would say it's a good idea to shower." Charlotte said sarcastically. "Dating is my area of expertise, I was very popular in high school."

"Is it true you sucked off forty guys in high school?" Desiree asked from the back of the room.

"Shut up!" Charlotte called back. "Anyways, it doesn't matter what I told you. Michael is nuts over you, lord knows why."

"You should work on a suicide hotline." I mumbled, laying back on to my cot. Anna climbed onto my chest.

"Angela, what's it like?" She asked.

"What's what like?"

"She's talking to the Treecko again." Charlotte said.

"To have a mate?" Anna said. "I've never had a mate, I mean I've wanted one, but I'm five years old and I haven't had one..."

"Grass-types live longer then humans" I said, "Don't worry, you've got plenty of time. Besides, having a mate isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Yeah, males are to much trouble." Saya said, hopping up beside Anna. "You're better off without them."

"Seriously, am I the only one who wonders why she's talking to her pokemon, saying Umbreon over and over again?" Charlotte asked. "It's not normal! Stop acting like all of this is normal!"

"I don't care, I want a mate." Anna said softly. "I want to be loved, and to have children some day, and to evolve, and maybe fight a pokemon battle on the moon. The others are far more likely, and they're things I've never done! I'm a little scared of what would happen, but I want this some day. Wouldn't it be wonderful?"

"I wish I could tell you it would be." I mumbled to myself. "I guess I'm going to find out myself."

"It'll be fun" Anna said, "Michael cares a lot about you. I can't see anything going wrong."

"I hope I can see that too" I mumbled. "I know he does, but I don't care. I won't be happy until it's all done. I don't like stuff like this."

* * *

"Your hand is shaking." Michael said. I looked down.

"What do you know, it is." The time had come, and I still wasn't ready. Michael had escorted me to the hotel restaurant, and we had only just set down. I had only now actually said something, which I considered a miracle, since I didn't think my throat would open. I was in my lest mud covered jeans, and my least torn shirt. Best to wear something comfortable when anxious, it'll make things go faster.

"Why are you so nervous?" Michael asked, "You've got nothing to worry about. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Michael, what made you like me?" I asked. "I mean, what made you start liking me?"

"I don't know" He shrugged. "Something about you, your personality, your bravery, something when I first saw you."

"When you first saw me, I was eight and weighed more then two hundred pounds. I called you dipshit for most of our life. I killed myself because I let the drunken Duncans get to me, and I died weighing more then two hundred pounds! It wasn't looks, personality, or bravery!"

"I sometimes wonder if you want to be miserable" Michael said, "Then I think of how you get when it comes to pokemon battles. You become...energized I think. That's the you I like most of all Angela. Sure you get aggressive, but you're happier. Your pokemon love you, and you show them so much attention. Angela, you're at peace when you're dealing with pokemon."

"Pokemon battles...heh" I let out a small laugh. "You know, the first time I did a simulated battle, I hated it. The drunken Duncans had bought me one of those hand held machines that let you do digital battles, mostly so it would eat up time that I wouldn't spend around them. I kept imagining I was killing my parents, and kept telling my pokemon to attack, nothing but attack. Hell, the only reason I did a second one was because I lost the first."

"I assume you won that one?" Michael asked.

"No, I lost! I lost twelve simulated battles in a row. Every time I kept getting angrier, I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong! Finally, on the thirteenth try, I decided to lower the other pokemons defense first, and then attack. It was my first strategy, and" I smiled to myself, and bent down under our table. I untied my right shoe, bringing it on to the table. "I wrote it down on a post it note" I said, pulling an old, crinkled note from my shoe, "I still have it. It was the first time I decided to write down a strategy." I unfolded the note, letting Michael read it.

"Try lowering their defense! Defense is even underlined twice, to show us how serious this strategy is."

"Lay off" I said with a laugh, "I was seven when I wrote this. Also, I'll have you know that this was a serious tactic! It meant the possible death of my little digital pokemon!"

"You always keep it in your shoes?" Michael asked.

"I need it some where it won't get lost." I replied, putting it back in my shoe, and pulling my shoe back on. "It's something I hold on to, to remind myself why I make my own strategy guides, and notes."

"You've never shown me that before." Michael mumbled.

"No I haven't" I said. "Felt I should." Michael's hand slipped into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet.

"I actually have something like that." He said, pulling a small rock from his wallet. "I used to collect rocks. Actually, I used to collect a lot of things, but rocks were the first. Then old coins, then snow globes, then comic books, and then"

"I get the idea" I interrupted. "If you collected all this stuff, how come I didn't know about it?"

"Mother got rid of most of my stuff when I was nine." Michael said. "She said they were dirt traps, and dirt was not allowed in the house."

"I remember one time your mother came over to my house" I said, smirking, "She sprayed the door with disinfectant before she knocked. Even then she knocked with a stick she found in the yard!"

"Yeah, she was like that." Michael said. "My parent's are divorcing by the way." My jaw dropped. "What?"

"That's big news! You're acting rather nonchalant about it." He nodded. "When did you find out?"

"I called them when we were still in Hoenn, to tell them what happened, and that we would be leaving the country. My mom said she'd fly out to stop me, my dad said to have fun. Anyways, they told me then they were in the middle of divorcing."

"That sucks." I said. A waiter came over to us.

"Hello folks!" He said in a disturbingly cheerful way, "Are we ready to order something to drink?"

"Not really" I said, "Come back in five minutes." The waiter took off, and I returned my attention to Michael. "So, why aren't you upset or anything?"

"Well, I always kind of expected it." Michael said. "The two were never happy with each other, my dad in particular was miserable. I can never remember the two of them happy at the same time. The only reason they were together I figured was me, and I'm not there anymore."

"I wonder how things have changed in Littleroot" I said, "Since we've been gone. Of course, I was barely a part of Littleroot when I lived there, so I might not notice."

"I never want to go back to Littleroot" Michael said, "I never liked it there, it was hot, and it was always humid."

"Why did your family move to Littleroot?" I asked.

"No idea, I just knew I didn't like it. Well, I didn't at first, and then I met you." Michael smiled at me, and I blushed.

_Fuck, blushing. Got to make that stop._

"Hanging out with you got me out of the house." I said. "Your parents never liked me did they?"

"Mother said you were viscous little savage" Michael said, "Which meant you were some one I wanted to be with. Someone as far removed from how my parents thought people should act as possible."

"I think your mothers idea of a person is someone grown in a vat, who are taught from birth that emotions are things that happen to other people."

"Excuse me" Our waiter said, coming up to us, "But are you planning on ordering something?"

"In a minute" Michael replied, "We're still deciding." The waiter sighed, and walked off again.

"Just out of curiosity, why do you watch crappy movies?" I asked. Michael shrugged.

"I dunno, what's the worst movie you've ever seen?"

"...Supergirl" I shuddered.

"Alright, yes that one is bad. I like it though because it's so bad, it's awesome! I like crap movies because I can revel in the badness, because I can make fun of how awful it is."

"That's a weird hobby." I said.

"Gee Angela, you're right" Michael mocked, "If only I were like normal people, and kept sticky-notes in my shoe."

"Alright, point taken" I said with a grin. "I don't think the two of us qualify as normal people?"

"Why? Just because people try to kill us, and you've been dead so many times you have a parking space in the after life? Or because you were once an Umbreon, and got pulled into an alternate reality where I was a Grovyle? Or because your mother was an Arcanine? Nah, those things happen to everyone!"

"You know" I said, my throat going dry as I spoke, "Other people would have run screaming from someone with all that baggage." Michael had gone quiet, his eyes studying me. I took his hand in mine. "You didn't though, y-you didn't throw me off of that boat when you first found out I was your Umbreon. You've stood by me and I-I"

_Do not cry, what ever you do, do not cry_

"Excuse me" We both turned, to see our waiter again. "If you're not going to order anything, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Y-yeah" I turned to Michael, "Come on, let's get out of here."

* * *

"We really should get something to eat." Michael said, as we walked through the halls of the hotel.

"Maybe later" I mumbled. I was leaning into Michael's body, and his arm was wrapped around my shoulder. "Is this our floor?"

"...No it's not." Michael said. He laughed, and after a second, I did also. We stopped at the end of the hall.

"I had fun tonight" I said. "Even if we didn't really do anything tonight, just talked. It-I would like to do it again sometime." Michael looked at me.

"You mean it?" Smiling, I moved in closer, and kissed him.

"Yes, I mean it."

For once I did really mean it. Of course, me and Michael dating wasn't easy, but more on that later.


	24. Worlds Apart

**XXIV: Worlds Apart**

Antony Luccelli hated this part of his job. Being the guardian of Angela and hundreds of other reborns, that was easy. No, what wasn't easy when the Titans had to meet with the Legendaries, because it meant something bad was happening.

Not all Titans were here, nor were all Legendaries, so things weren't as bad as they could be. The Milotic though was arranging something, except even the Titan's didn't know what, and they were beings who existed outside of time!

Currently four Titans sat in Infinity, above the multiverse, waiting for the three Legendaries to appear. Antony had trouble sitting still, but was trying not to let his anxiety show.

"Your shaking" Not Qwillfish said to Antony, shaking a little as he spoke, "If you're to nervous, I'm sure the Supreme will let you leave. I'm also sure he'll remember you leaving out of cowardice."

"I'm not leaving you spiny nit." Antony replied.

"Yes, well you should leave anyways. You get declared a coward, I get to take over your job guarding Angela Duncan, everyone wins!" He sighed. "You shouldn't even be protecting her, Titan's aren't supposed to interact with anyone from their human life. She's dating your former brother!" Qwillfish, usually hyper, seemed more jittery then usual. His eyes kept darting back and forth.

"Their were exceptions made, the Supreme trusted me."

"Please, he only looked the other way because you only technically knew your brother as a human for sixty-three seconds. Sixty-three seconds are to long in my opinion."

"You're nervous too, aren't you?" Antony asked.

"Just a little bit." Qwillfish said. "I-I can't help it, I don't like Legendaries. We can't read their minds, we can't sense them at all times, we can't even blow them up!"

"Would it help put you at ease if you could blow them up?"

"More then you would imagine. Especially Mew." Qwillfish shuddered. "Say what you want about Arceus and Girantina, but at least you know what they want. Arceus wants to observe, Giratina wants to shuttle the dead."

"Mew though is the embodiment of life and chaos. Mew does what Mew wants." Antony mumbled.

"Mew could one day join forces with the fallen Titans" Qwillfish said, "Stop all the earth's, or blow them all up, just because he/she's been having a bad day. I mean, Mew will actually go back in time and alter reality, creating more species of Pokemon then their originally were. Once their were only 151 of them!"

"I know, I know. Mew added new ones cause, well Mew was bored. That's generally what happened when you give a lunatic the powers of a demi-god."

"The same thing that happens when you give a six year old a Glock" Qwillfish mumbled, "Still, I suppose that's a good reason to stay on Mew's good side. Sadly, Mew's added even more pokemon, stupider looking ones! It's never going to stop."

"Now you're starting to sound paranoid." Antony said, "I understand though. Sometimes, all of this stuff starts to get to you. Our charges forget, we're not all powerful."

"I wish I could forget that." Qwillfish said.

"Hey, could you two be quiet?" Not Venusaur asked, "Our visitors are arriving." In front of the Titan's, three separate portals appeared.

All three Legendaries had created pocket dimensions for them selves, places they could exist outside of reality. For a brief moment, the Titan's could see inside each of the pocket dimensions, see where the Legendaries desired to live.

Arceus lived in side of what looked like a library, where ever piece of information ever recorder or that would ever be recorded was kept. Giratina lived in side of a house made of chocolate (yes really), though a very gloomy looking chocolate house. Mew though, that's where it got weird.

Mew lived in what he called the Festival of Insanity. In Mew's realm, the Titans could see several creatures (no idea what species) wearing masks, and dancing. In the back ground was a guillotine, painted bright blue for some reason. As Mew closed the portal, a loud shriek could be heard from Mew's realm.

"I told you, that pink fuck ball is weird." Qwillfish said.

"Arceus, lord of all pokemon" Arceus began, "Creator of worlds, lighter of dark corners, being of a thousand-"

"Oh shut it" Giratina snapped, "We've heard you practice that speech a thousand times, we don't need to hear it again. Look, you guys called us, what do you need?"

"Thank you" The Supreme Titan said. "We need help. A former Titan has begun what we believe is the initiation of the Ten Emotions."

"Non-sense" Arceus said, "My scope is limitless, surely I would know if someone had begun that process!"

"You really don't know the meaning of shut up do you?" Not Venusaur asked. "If you had let our leader finish, you'd no why you can't sense the Milotic's actions."

"Fine, you may continue" Arceus said.

"As I was saying" The Supreme began, "We believe a former Titan has begun the Ten Emotions process. One of the most dangerous former Titan, known as Not Milotic. She's been able to hide her presence from us, which would be possible if she had begun the Ten Emotions."

"I don't believe you" Arceus said, "Surely I would have known that the process had begun! This Milotic must have just figured out a way to hide from you!"

"Shut up you pompous dick-cheese" Giratina snapped, "I was the one who told them that someone might be starting the TE process, just not who. Four people on earth have died, but their souls never made it over here. Hell, I checked, they haven't even been reborn! You know how the process goes." Arceus nodded.

"Ten souls, five given, five taken, each one embodying a single emotion. With all ten, the Milotic's power would increase astronomically, at least when she keeps herself in the physical world. Alright, so she over runs a few worlds, when she's here, she's no more powerful then any of you. Why should I be concerned?"

"She'd over run an earth, or several earth's before we'd be able to stop her." Qwillfish snapped, "How do you think it would effect you?"

"That's not all" The Supreme said, "We believe she is attempting to locate the wraiths of this earth." That shut Arceus up.

As Antony knew, it wasn't just that Titans weren't supposed to openly use their powers in the physical world, it's that they couldn't. The moment they did anything directly, they would be pulled into Eternity, like being snapped back by a rubber band. Their were of course ways around that, a few ways. The TE process was one, and turning yourself into a wraith was another.

A wraith was a former Titan, who bonded them selves to one Earth in the multiverse. That alone wasn't enough to allow them to use their abilities, they had to possess a human. In possession of a human body, they became a god more or less.

"All three of the Titans I have brought with me have imprisoned wraiths on this Earth." The Supreme said. "The rule of wraiths is that a Titan is not allowed to tell another Titan where they have imprisoned a wraith. The wraiths themselves are imprisoned in bottles made out of solid time, trapping them in one moment until they are released."

"If no one but the Titans who imprisoned them know where the wraiths are" Giratina began, "How exactly can the Milotic find them?"

"I can answer that one." Not Venusaur said. "Places where wraiths are imprisoned tend to be...odd. Abnormalities occur there, spontaneous fires, constant lightning storms, water drying up. The Milotic when she was a Titan, was an expert on wraiths, so she would know what to look for."

"Am I correct in assuming that the Earth she seems to have such disdain for, is the one that she was from when she was human?" Arceus asked.

"That would be correct." The Supreme said. "Their is another reason though for this Earth being important."

"It's the home of Angela Duncan." Every one turned to Mew, who had been quiet until this point. "Tell me, does Ms. Duncan know just why Not Milotic hates her so much? Or rather, why Not Milotic constantly tries to kill her. I suppose now that you've begun teaching Ms. Duncan about mental battles, Not Milotic no longer wants her dead. Does Ms. Duncan know just why she is so special?"

"I'm her Titan" Antony said, "I decided it was best not to tell her. If she doesn't know, she might be safer."

"I fail to see how" Mew said, smirking, "I mean, she doesn't know, but her enemies do. In what way will that help keep her safe? If anything, it'll do the opposite, she'll be less safe. Then again, she still thinks it's a coincidence she keeps running in to people with tragic pasts, how would she feel if I told her that you people had arranged that? That you had been arranging her life?"

"You wouldn't dare." The Supreme said, "We're on the same side, doing something like that could endanger her, cause her to stop trusting you."

"Well she shouldn't trust you" Mew said, "And we are not on the same side. I'm on my own side, the rest of you can do what ever you want, it wont interfere with my plans. I wont tell her though, that would interfere with my plans, and it just wouldn't be fun."

"We thank you for that-" The Supreme began, but Mew cut him off.

"No you don't, you don't care what I do, just if it effects you. Your goal right now should be to seek out all other fallen Titans, if the Milotic is going after wraiths, she might try to get more Titans to join with her."

"For what possible reason?" Qwillfish.

"Let's see, raise up an army to stop you from stopping her. Hell, raise up an army and over throw you twits, and put herself up as the new Supreme Titan, instantly becoming one of the most powerful forces in existence. Then I'd have to agree to be loyal to her, and that would bum me out for a whole day!" Now everyone was glaring at the floating feline. "Oh please, I know of at least three others in this room who would switch sides in a heart beet. I never said I would, only if I have to in order to stay alive."

"Fine, we'll look into the possibility of her raising an army" The Supreme said. "But we will need you to be on the look out for the possibility of her raising an army as well. If anything out of the ordinary occurs, you will tell us as soon as possible."

"As long as you do the same with us." Arceus said, "Then yes, we can assure you of our cooperation. We will meet with the other Legendaries and discuss our own tactics should we need them."

"And if any Legendaries join the Milotic?" Antony asked.

"Then I am not certain what we will do." Arceus said, "But don't worry, no such possibility could occur. All Legendaries and lesser pokemon are loyal to me!"

"I have beaten the snot out of you five times" Mew said, "Broke your legs twice, and snapped one of the bars off the pinwheel around your chest once and then beat you with it. Why? Because I was bored and tired of you being a pompous dick!"

"Silence! I shall now exit!" A portal opened and Arceus vanished into it. Giratina watched, while opening a portal behind her.

"I'll make sure to monitor all deaths." Giratina said, "Since I can't go into the world except in a few select places, their isn't much I can do, but you've got my help." Mew watched them both leave, before opening its portal.

"You know how we are different?" Mew asked. "Legendaries like me are at their core just pokemon. When a problem confronts us, we fight it until we're broken or victorious. Titans though are the half way point between humans and pokemon, yet you still take the approach of humans. You react, you scheme, but you never said how you planned to fight against Not Milotic. Even when asked, you avoided the answer, you don't think you will have to fight. Their may be a battle soon, or even a war, and will you be ready? It will be a very bloody affair, one that all of you in your infinite wisdom may not be prepared for. You may have to do things you don't like, you may have to lie or to kill to eliminate her. Will you be able to do it? If not, I can assure you Not Milotic is." The portal closed, and all the Titans sat there in silence.

"We will be prepared" The Supreme said, "Now return to your charges. For now, all we can do is wait."

* * *

"So, how did you enjoy our first dinner as a couple?" Michael asked as we walked back in to the hotel.

"It-it was a lot more fun then I thought it would be." I said with a smile, "Truth be told, I figured I'd be to nervous to eat. Nine hours without food will really take the anxiety away." As we walked by the front desk, the hotel clerk began snapping her fingers at us.

"Excuse me, Sir? Are you Mr. Michael Luccelli?"

"Uh, yes I am, hold on Angela" Michael walked over to the desk, "Uh, something wrong?"

"No sir, we have a package for you." The woman said, reaching under the desk and pulling out something wrapped in brown paper, with a note attached. "It was left for you about a half an hour ago."

"Who left it?" Michael asked.

"They requested we not give out their identity." She said. Alright my dear listener, I have no idea how this conversation went, but I'm guessing they asked something like that.

"Oh, well I'll take it back with my wonderful girlfriend Angela. Doesn't she just look beautiful?"

"I'd convert to lesbianism just to be with her sir." I swear that's probably how the conversation went. Michael returned to me, unwrapping the package.

"Whose it from?" I asked.

"No idea, check out the note." Michael handed me the hand written note.

"Dear lord this is some bad hand writing. Flan Anpolper? I think that's what it says." Michael pulled the wrapping off, pulling out a pokeball. "Now that's something new."

"Who on earth would give me a pokeball?" Michael asked.

"No idea. See what's inside!" I chirped happily. Shrugging, Michael opened the pokeball, causing something to appear in front of us in a bright flash.

The light took form, and in a second, a Totodile was in front of us. We looked at each other, then at the Totodile.

_Okay, now this is weird._

_**AN: **_Alright, a lot happened in this chapter, except also a lot of nothing. I do think it's an important question though, what would you do to win? What would you do to keep yourself safe?


	25. Living Tribute

**AN: **Still trying to get back to twice a week updating. The new-new power cord for my laptop arrived, and I had to go on a trip and couldn't use it. Anyways, enjoy!

**XXV: Living Tribute**

"That's a Totodile," I said.

"Yep, you catch on quick," Michael replied. I slapped him in the back of the head, stifling a smile. "Why did someone give me a Totodile?"

"With a poorly written note," I said.

"It's probably a secret admirer of mine," Michael said.

"Yeah, some nice young boy."

"...Thank you for crushing my fantasy."

"No problem." Michael scooped up the Totodile in his arms. The Totodile looked at him.

"Who the hell are you?" I translated it.

"I'm Michael," Michael said.

"You my new trainer?" Translated.

"Uh, well I guess I am," he said, "Someone gave me your ball, and let me tell you something. They abandoned you, you didn't do anything wrong. You are the victim here."

"Actually I did do something wrong," Totodile said, and I translated.

"No, you see your trainer couldn't cut it," Michael said, still attempting to give a speech, "Nothing you did means they should have gotten rid of you."

"I attempted to run away three times, bit him in the balls, and destroyed three of his blue top hats," Totodile said. He then turned to me. "Also, how come you can understand me?"

"It's a long story," I said, "You see, I-"

"You're right, too long." Totodile responded. "So, blue boy finally gave up. Sweet! I don't have to take orders from that shiny moron!"

_Shiny moron?_

"Now, I need something to bite on," Totodile said. He bit down on Michael's right thumb.

"Gah!"

"Don't worry Michael," I said, "It's a bite of love!" Michael shot me a death glare, as he pulled the Totodile off his thumb. "So, are you going to keep him?"

"Of course I'm going to keep him," Michael said, "If I didn't, who would? He needs someone to look after him."

"True, but you're looking over Louis and...Lisa's pokemon," I said, my voice cracking for a moment, "Do you really want to take on another?"

"It's not about what I want, it's about what needs to be done," Michael replied, "Besides, I actually do want to do it. I've always had a soft spot for water types." Totodile bit down on his left hand. "...Even those who really try my patience. I'll make it work somehow though, even if I'm not really a trainer any more. The first priority needs to be a name for him."

"Hey Totodile, got a name?" I asked.

"No, probably should," he replied. Totodile tried to bite Michael's hand again, but Michael maneuvered him upside down.

"Alright, a name, what would be a good name you think?" Michael asked.

"Well, you named me Angel, showing that you cannot select a name that reflects a personality if your life were depending on it," I said, "I dunno, go with a name that means something to you."

"Then this will take a while," Michael said, "Let's head back to the room."

* * *

"Why on earth are we taking the stairs!" I shouted, "Why! Why are you torturing me!"

"Both elevators are out," Michael replied, "And stop shouting, you've only walked up five stairs!"

"It's five too many," I moaned, "I'm just not cut out for this kind of exercise!"

"Aren't you walking across the entire region?"

"Shut up!" We marched onward, Michael still carrying the Totodile. Several questions kept flashing through my mind, though they were ones we had already asked. Who was his trainer? Why was he given to Michael? What was Michael going to do?

"What was your trainer's name?" I asked the Totodile. He looked at me, and shrugged.

"I dunno, he wasn't really important to me," Totodile replied, "He was there, and he was nice I guess. I didn't like him though, he kept giving me commands, and expecting me to do stuff for him!"

"He was your trainer!"

"So? That doesn't mean he's allowed to order me around. I should not be expected to be subservient, I will be treated as an equal if I'm forced to go with him," Totodile responded, "Pokemon and trainers are supposed to be partners, but his word was law. Screw that crap, I wanted away from the control freak. Do this, do that, and most of it didn't even have to do with battling! He wanted me to water flowers for crap sake, who forces a Totodile to water flowers?"

"How terrible, being forced to water," I said sarcastically.

"Screw you too," Totodile snapped. By now we had made it up six floors, which would have been good, if we weren't on the top floor. My legs were burning, but I pushed on anyways.

"Ask him what he would like for a name," Michael said, "My Totodile, please ask him."

"You've sure been quiet. Alright, I'll ask him." I turned to the tiny reptile, "What would you like for a name?"

"Something that asserts just how awesome I am," Totodile replied, "A human name, nothing that sounds stupid. Also, not a color and not a damn fruit. That blue moron tried to name me Banana!" Sure, because when I think Totodile, I think yellow fruit. "Listen, if I stay with this guy, will he respect me?"

"Michael is one of the most respectful people alive," I said, "Of course he will, don't worry. Trust me, you're in good hands." We had now made it half way up the building, and my chest was pounding. Still wasn't going to let that bother me, just had to make it up the stairs.

"Alright, if I can trust him," Totodile said, "Ask him what he's going to do with me." I translated, and Michael laughed.

"Well, I'm not actually a trainer anymore, so I dunno. You can do what ever you want to, but if you travel with me, you'll always have food, and you'll be traveling with interesting people." Interesting people? Well I suppose that's a fair description, but then again Nazi's could be described as interesting, and they won't drive you as crazy as our group will.

"Are there any ice-types?" Totodile asked, "Because I don't travel with ice-types, they're always trying to screw you. Plus, they always bitch about how hot it is, and about how they're going to melt. It's part of their grand conspiracy to rule the world."

Yes my dear listener, he said ice-types are conspiring to rule the world. It didn't make sense to me either.

"Don't worry," I said, "There are no ice-types, just a group of pokemon you'll easily get along with. Trust me, I'm a great judge of character."

"You?" Michael asked, "You said Gaston was the hero of _Beauty and The Beast_!"

"He was, best looking, best song, and most tragic end!"

"You dated a psychopath who tried to kill you, and was so crazy and obsessed with you that he forced girls to dress like you."

"Donny only went crazy after we broke up, and tried to kill you! Not me, and besides, how could I foresee him going crazy?"

"I'm not going to even get into the fact that when you first met the Milotic monster, you thought she was a good guy, in spite of the fact that she was more obviously evil then a silent movie villain!"

"Okay," I said, "That was all part of my clever plan! I'd go along with her, trick her into trusting me, and then I'd spring into action!"

"Wasn't I part of this conversation once?" Totodile asked, "Look, if you two are always this crazy, I'll go somewhere else." I translated, Michael sighed.

"We're not," Michael said, "It's just, well we're a bit emotionally charged. You see, today was our first date..."

"You two are mates?" Totodile asked, "Ah, this makes sense to me, you have engaged in mating, and you both discovered it was most unpleasurable." After I translated, Michael and I looked at each other.

"N-no," Michael said, "We haven't been intimate yet, though it's something that isn't outside of the realm of possibility."

"It is definitely outside of the realm of possibility tonight," I said in a dry voice. Michael sighed, and his eyes dropped to the ground. "Anyways, we also weren't expecting for you to be joining our party tonight. Not that we're not glad you're here, but we don't know who your trainer was, where you came from, or why you came to us."

"I told you," Totodile said, "My trainer was the shiny blue guy! He tasted like onions and blood when I bit him." I nodded, and then fell to my knees. Michael frowned at this.

"You have to keep walking up the stairs, we have another twenty floors. You'll have to walk up it eventually."

"I can't go on," I whispered, sitting beside the door for the current floor, "Just leave me here, come back later, nothing bad can happen to me here." Of course, given that I believe in universal irony, I should have seen what happened next.

The door for the floor slammed open, hitting me in the face and knocking me down. Somehow I should have known that was coming.

"I'm free!" a voice shouted, "Four hours and I'm finally free!" I pushed the door off of my face, as a familiar girl entered the stairwell.

"April?" I asked. If you don't remember, April was a girl I met in Newbark Town, who had somehow managed to get lost while walking down a straight street.

"Who are...wait, I remember you! Angela right? You're Angela Duncan!" She turned to Michael. "And you must be someone also."

"Michael Luccelli," he said, extending his hand. April shook it vigorously, a big smile on her face. "You're certainly excited, Ms. April was it?"

"That's right, April Moore," she replied, "I'm just so happy, I've been lost for the last four hours!" Me and Michael turned to each other.

"In the hotel?" I asked.

"On this floor," April replied, "You know what it's like I assume, to be walking along and suddenly not know how to get back to the elevator no matter how hard you try."

"No I don't!" I said, "Because I'm not so damn stupid I could get lost walking a straight line!"

"That only happened once," April responded, "Maybe twice, but that's beside the point! The point is, I escaped! It's a happy day because I'm finally free from that accursed hotel hallway. I can get back to my...Totodile!" April grabbed the Totodile from Michael and started nuzzling it. "Awww, they're so cute!"

"She calls me cute again, she's getting a face full of fang," Totodile growled. "Who the heck is this freak?"

"Best not to ask," I replied, "I don't really know myself, except she's a pokemon trainer, and once didn't notice she had crossed an ocean."

"Ah."

"Why is Angela talking like an Umbreon?" April asked.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Michael responded.

"So, is this your Totodile Mr. Luccelli?" April asked. Mr. Luccelli?

"Uh, yes technically, it is definitely my Totodile," Michael said, "He's been mine for roughly forty-five minutes now."

"I didn't know there were wild Totodile in this hotel!" April said, "You learn something new each day." Michael took his Totodile back from her. "What's his name?"

"I haven't given him a name yet," Michael said, smiling, "I'm not sure really what I want to name him."

"If you don't know, then I have a suggestion," April said, "Go with a name that means something to you, maybe a living tribute to someone you loved. Someone who might not be with us any more. Make sure the name matters to you though." Michael smiled.

"I can do that," Michael said, "Thank you for the advice Ms. April."

"No problem," she replied, "Now if you don't mind, I'm off to the twentieth floor." With that Ms. April started walking down the stairs.

"Should we tell her the twentieth is above us?" Michael asked.

"Meh, let her figure it out," I replied.

* * *

It took us nearly an hour to finally get back to the room, and by then I was so glad to no longer see stairs. Words can not describe how happy I was to see our unfinished room.

"You two are back early," Charlotte said, "Date not go well?"

"Piss off," I mumbled, collapsing on my cot. Anna and Saya both crawled on top of me.

"Did you have fun Angela?" Anna asked, "I think having a mate would be fun, of course it's not like I know..."

"It was fun," I said, petting Anna's head, "It was actually the most fun I ever had, and it's something I recommend highly. Just-wow."

"Who's the Totodile?" Saya asked. We all turned, to Michael explaining what happened at the lobby.

"I have no idea who left him!" Michael said, "There was a note, but it was so badly written I couldn't read it!"

"A Totodile?" Desiree mumbled, "I can work with this, come to me my Iggy!"

"Yes my mistress!" Iggy chirped. Totodile right now was talking to the worthless rejects, who were giving him the once over.

"So, you are not a servant of those who would see to annihilate the chu?" Pecha asked.

"Give it a rest fuzzball," Trish groaned, "He's no more dangerous then you are."

"Pecha is the most dangerous electric rodent of electricity in all of the world!" Pecha ranted, throwing her arms up in a victory pose. Yes really.

"Is she always like this?" Totodile asked Rush.

"Don't you think sunshine is fun?" Rush asked.

"Good to know, how about you Stunky? Things always this weird?"

"Weirdness is like the tides," Streak said, "It's something that comes in cycles, and washes over you like a wave, consuming you."

"Uh-huh. So I've found myself on a voyage of the damned." Totodile sighed. "Well I-Excuse me, who is that?" Totodile pointed in my direction, towards Anna.

"Her?" Streak asked, "Her name is Anna, I dunno about her, her ocean waters are rippley."

"Anna huh?" Totodile moved away from them, and climbed up on to my cot.

"Uh, hello?" I asked.

"Hey new guy." Saya said, "My name is-"

"That's wonderful, you're Anna right?" Totodile. Anna finally acknowledged his presence, nodding. "Uh, kay. Let me just say, you're the most beautiful Treecko I've ever met."

"Thanks?" Anna asked. "I guess the same to you?"

"I mean it, the curve of your snout and the sheen of your scales." He was breathing heavily, "You're just so..." I then noticed something on that Totodile that I really wish I hadn't.

"Gah! Pervert!" I shouted. I grabbed him by the tail, and tossed Totodile straight at Michael.

"Yah!" Totodile hit Michael in the face, landing in the crook of his arm. "Thanks, you can put me down now."

"Gabriel," Michael mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Angela, I've made up my mind," Michael sad to me, "His name is Gabriel."

"Fascinating, why?" I asked.

"Because of what April said," he replied, "The name means a lot to me, it's a tribute."

"Alright then," I smiled, "Gabriel it is."

Welcome to the team, Gabriel. Now where had I heard that name before?


	26. Charlotte's Wild Ride

**XXVI: Charlotte's Wild Ride**

**The Future**

Angela sipped her cup of chrysanthemum tea, a smile coming across her old face.

"So long traveling with that loon, he made me develop a taste for this sludge." She mumbled. "I wonder if he still drinks it?" Their was a knock at the door. "Ah, my guest has arrived."

Moving to the door took Angela longer then she liked to admit, and every step hurt her a little. It didn't bother her anymore, she'd had years to get used to it. Angela pulled the door open.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?

"You still look incredible as always, Charlotte." Age had been much kinder to Charlotte then to Angela. Her hair was steel gray, her face was relatively unwrinkled, and although she was leaning on a walking stick, she moved easier then Angela did. Of course she did, she didn't have years as a pokemon, trainer, cop, and agent of the supernatural that Angela had. Well, relatively speaking on the last one.

"Are you going to let me in, or do I have to stand out here like a doof?" She asked.

"Come on inside," Angela said, "Sit, sit." The two sat in front of Angela's fire, Angela bringing her cup of tea with her.

"Do you have to have that fire going, it's August!"

"Yes, but it makes me feel like I'm back in Hoenn" Angela replied, "I could never get completely used to living elsewhere."

"You got used to drinking that chrysanthemum crap." Charlotte said.

"I'm more amazed you never did, you live with a man for forty-five years, and none of his habits rub off on you."

"You lived with Michael, but you still curse, and tell your grand-children stories that might be considered inappropriate."

"Nobodies perfect." Angela replied, taking a sip of tea. "Actually, it's one of those stories I'm here to talk to you about. I've written down most of my stories and filed them, but their are a few that slipped my mind. Your story is one I want to tell Adrian so she'll understand something's that happened later, but I don't remember it. Would you mind refreshing my memory?"

"Of course you wouldn't remember it, you weren't there." Charlotte said. She pulled out a cigarette and lit up. "I'll never forget that day and that night. Let's see, that was the day you first found out..."

**The Past**

"You smoke?" Angela asked.

"Not often." I replied. "Only when I desperately need a stress reliever, like now. I have no job offers, low cash reserves, and no hope in sight." I took a deep drag. "We're headed to Azalea Town right?"

"Actually we'll hit the Ruins of Alph first." Michael said, "Something I am extremely interested in. I mean, think of it, ruins with Unknown engraved in to the walls, untranslated words everywhere. If we could translate it, think of the history that we could learn, maybe who built it, and why they built it. Maybe we could even understand the purpose of the Unknown."

"The Unknown are a despicable, secretive species." Virgil said. "They are sworn enemies of several pokemon, including Zangoose. Unknown care nothing for others, pay no respect to the legendaries, and are a danger to humans. The world without them would be better for it."

"Boy, you're a cheerful guy." I said, taking another drag.

"I've been to the ruins before" Desiree said, "They look beautiful, especially when the sun is setting and all the rock turns red. It almost makes them look like they're on fire. I want to capture that on my canvas, Iggy braving the flames of the flaming ruins."

"Sure, why not." I heard Angela say. Angela then started talking to her Treecko, and Desiree to Iggy.

Back then it really bugged me that you talked to your pokemon, making Umbreon noises. Of course, I know about why you did it now, but even after I found out, it bugged me you didn't tell me.

"Charlotte?" Desiree asked, "I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Why don't you have a pokemon?" Desiree asked, "I have Iggy, Michael has a bunch, Angela has Anna and Saya. You don't have any though, any you catch you automatically look to sell."

"We've been traveling for a year and a half, and it took you this long to ask me this question?"

"Well, it never mattered before." Desiree said, "It's just, I can tell you're not happy, and maybe having a pokemon would make you happier. I'm worried about you, I want you to be happier Charlotte."

"If I had my licensee, more money, and a mansion, I'd be much happier." I replied. "I don't have any of those things, and I fail to see how having a pokemon would help me improve these things. It's something I'd have to take care of."

"You'd be amazed just how much having someone dependent on you can make you feel good."

"I fail to see how." I said, snuffing my cigarette on the bottom of my shoe. "The sun is setting, can we stop?"

* * *

Four hours later, we had eaten dinner, and were trying to sleep. We were camped out on the side of the path, beside the woods. I had chosen to sleep outside of my tent that night, I think because I was to hot, I'm not sure. Also, I just couldn't sleep.

"Beautiful night, sky full of stars" I said, "And I can't get to sleep. My head feels like it's full of sand." I turned on to my side, only to notice something weird.

Virgil, carrying something under his arm, heading towards the woods. His head was straight ahead, and he was still wearing his sunglasses. At night? Weird, but consistent I suppose.

"What is freak boy up to?" I asked. "I could let him go off on his own, or I could follow him and spy on him like a creepy voyeur. Is their any question what I'm going to do?" I pulled myself out of my sleeping bag, pulled my shoes on, and carefully followed behind him. Just one problem with my little plan.

"Where is he?" I lost sight of Virgil almost immediately. I was trying to not make any noise, and almost immediately managed to cut my leg on a piece of wood. "Motherfucker!" Yet, despite my noise, Virgil didn't come running through the forest to catch me.

"Screw it, a little while longer, and then I'm out of here." I mumbled. I turned north west, and in hindsight, I am so glad that I did. No, I was no where near where Virgil was.

As I walked, a pool of water came in to sight. Right off the bat, something stuck out about the pool, specifically that it was glowing. What really got my attention, was a figure on top of the pool, floating on the water, apparently asleep.

"O-h-my-fuck-ing-God" I whispered, trying desperately not to squeal.

Sitting there, apparently asleep, was Suicune. The legendary water-dog pokemon thing, with a stupid growth coming out of its head. It was beautiful, majestic, but I didn't notice any of that. Only one thought went through my head.

"Think of how much money I'd make catching that!" I said. Slowly, I backed up, and made my way out of the woods. Thankfully, I hadn't gotten lost, and I would be able to find my way back.

Now, as you know I always kept a length of rope with me, just in case off...well for various reasons. Their was no way in hell for me to catch that Suicune, not without knocking it out, and I figured out how to do that. What I needed was rope, and one of the logs we used for fire wood.

Thankfully, we had two logs not burned, so I grabbed one of them. I tied the rope around the log in two places, and then tied the two ends around my wrists. I let the log drop, and it hung about a foot down from my wrists.

"Perfect." I silently moved through the forest, trying not to step on any branches or anything. I remembered how to get to the pool, and all I could think about was just how much money I would make.

"I'll be able to buy a house made of money" I giggled, "a wardrobe made of money, and a full-time nurse for Tommy. Preferably one made from money." The pool entered my field of vision, and I crept up on it.

Now, I was only going to have one try at this, so I had to make it count. I pulled out three pokeballs, took a running leap at Suicune, and tossed them.

Now, a pokeball will catch a pokemon temporarily no matter what. It'll hold them in the ball for about three seconds, before the ball snaps in two and the pokemon gets released. That's just what happened here. Suicune woke up and turned its head, just as the third pokeball hit it. In a bright flash, it was sucked in to the ball.

I jumped at the pool, arms above my head, long above them. The ball snapped open, as I landed on Suicune's back. The log went over Suicune's head, over its neck, and I pulled it tight.

"Hello Suicune" I whispered, pulling the log tight. My goal was simple, cut off air flow, and cause Suicune to pass out. This though was going to prove a hell of a lot tougher then I expected, because Suicune's neck was muscular.

"Hello human." It replied. It could talk, of course it could talk. "So, you wish to try to capture me human?"

"That was the goal." I said, pulling the log tight. Suicune laughed in my head.

"Many humans have tried to capture me in the past." It replied, "What makes you so special?"

"Simple, I'm me, they weren't." I replied.

"Well, if you want to capture me, then hold on tight."

"What?" The wind began blowing, and suddenly were weren't in the woods. No, we were running on the wind, running at a speed I didn't even know was possible. I tried to scream, but I couldn't do it, my mouth was stuck open. I wasn't really on Suicune, I was stuck to the log, which was pulled tight against Suicune. The dog thing wasn't slowing down though, not at all. The entire world was a blur, colors and shapes that meant nothing.

Suddenly though, we had stopped. The sun was up, and we were in a city! Not a city, but the bay outside of a city. Where the hell were we?

"Welcome to Hiun City." Suicune said. "I've got to visit this place twice a week to clean up the water. Yet, I'm some what fond of this place, it amazes me you humans can stand to live so close and cramped to one another."

"Hiun City!" I cried, "That's halfway across the world!"

"Yes it is, but I knew a short cut." Suicune replied. "Being able to move to any two points almost instantaneously is so much fun. So human, tired yet?" I pulled the long tighter.

"Not even in the slightest." I replied.

"Well, then off we go." Before I could take a breath, Suicune was off, and I was flapping in the wind. My arms felt frozen from the wind, the rope felt cold, and the log was wet by now, but I still didn't let go. Not that I could had I wanted to. Once again, without warning, we stopped.

I was tossed sideways off of Suicune, but still attached to it's neck. My frozen head was spinning, it was dark again. Also, my legs were wet for some reason. Ignoring it, I pushed myself up to two legs.

"Now this is Shoal cave." Suicune said. "One of my favorite places on earth. During winter, the entrance ices shut, despite Hoenn's climate. I can get some thinking done here, or just rest without worry of being found. Tell me, what brings you peace human?"

"Financial security." I said.

"Irrelevant, money is temporary. Peace is not, it can keep you sane. Can money do that?"

"Depends, how much?" I asked.

"Off we go." Suicune shot off again, and by now I was beginning to wish I could get off. My arms were cold, and the ropes were starting to burn. The log was wet, and also cold, I think it was beginning to bend! On top of everything else, Suicune didn't seem to be effected even in the slightest.

We jerked to a stop, and I slammed against the back of Suicune's head. Now, we were on the shore of an island, with a second island one hundred feet away.

"These are the Seafome islands. Take note, Articuno recently moved back here, and you might want to try and capture her some time. You'll get your brains pecked out for your troubles, but hey, it never hurts to try!"

"You're mocking me, aren't you?" I asked, panting as I spoke.

"What ever would give you that idea?" Suicune asked. "It's time to take you back, let's go."

We vanished in a flash, running across the ocean, water spraying me in the face. My muscles burned, and my arms felt like they were going to be pulled out of their sockets. The ropes had burned my arms, and the water was not helping things at all. Even my stomach hurt, from bouncing on the Suicune.

"Oh-my-God-please-stop-this!" I cried.

"No need to cry, we're back" Suicune said. We had stopped at the pool, still night. My entire body felt like it had been beaten with meat mallets. Oh I wanted to stop. "Please get off human."

"Never, you will never get me off." Suicune fired a small ice beam, icing the log. It snapped it in two, and I hit the ground. "You could have done that at any time."

"Yes I could have. You interested me though." Suicune said. "You refused to let go, and although you wish to catch me for monetary reasons, their is something else that motivates you."

"That's personal." I growled.

"Yes, so was my sleep. Then again it didn't stop you from trying to catch me." Suicune said. "Tell me human, what is your name?"

"Charlotte." I replied.

"Well Ms. Charlotte, I will be back to see you soon. Until then, let me give you a gift." Suicune started to glow purple, and the glow extended to me. My hair began to stand up on end. "I'm going to change your entire world Ms. Charlotte, and although you don't understand now, you will soon. Good-bye Charlotte." The glowing stopped, and Suicune ran off. I looked for it, but it was gone.

My head was spinning, but it felt oddly clear. Sounds were crisper, but oddly I swore I could hear talking, talking all around me. The noise of the pokemon, except now it was clearer...

"Charlotte!" A voice called out. I slowly turned, to see Virgil running towards me. "I saw Suicune, despicable creature. Are you alright? What did it do to you?" I tried to respond, but I was to tired to do so. I could still hear voices.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Virgil asked.

"The words, the voices." I said. "They sound like-they were pokemon noises, except they're not."

"Charlotte, what are you talking about?" Virgil asked.

"It's the pokemon in the woods. I-I can understand what they're saying!" I cried.

* * *

**The Future**

"Of course, you remember what happens next." Charlotte said.

"Yes I do, it'll be the story after this one." Angela replied. "Thank you for refreshing my memory."

"No problem." Charlotte stood up, "I had best be going."

"Take care." Angela said, "And try to come back soon. I'd love to talk more about the old days."

"Anytime" Charlotte replied. "I'd love that."

**AN: **I was particulerly fond of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it also.


	27. Revalations Of Rebirth

**AN: **I had originaly put this story on hiatus due to my computer. I removed the notice almost immedietly though. You guys have put up with a lot from me, you don't need to wait anymore.

**XXVII: Revelations of Rebirth**

Now where were we? Ah yes, Charlotte had run into Suicune, been dragged halfway across the world, and could now understand pokemon. Virgil had been going into the woods for some reason, carrying something. This entire time, me and Michael had been asleep, contributing a lot as you can tell. Our sleep was about to end.

"Fuck! Fuck me! Fuck you all! Fuck the noise, please make them shut the fuck up! Gaaaaah!" I yawned, and pushed myself up.

"Whose that?" Michael mumbled, not getting up.

"Dunno, Charlotte?" I said, "I'll go see what she wants." I never made it outside. Suddenly, the shadowy outline of a human being appeared on the wall of our tent. Followed by said outline landing on our tent, and on us, sending the whole the caving in on us.

"Gah!" Michael jerked to life as someone and a mass of fabric hit him. I belly-flopped on the ground, pinned under the person. I managed to get my hand on the zipper though, and got out of the tent.

"Sorry Ms. Angela." Virgil said to me from on top of me. A few feet away, Charlotte was screaming and running in a circle.

"It's going to be a long night." I mumbled.

* * *

Desiree had also been woken up by the yelling, as had all our pokemon (who thankfully were not hurt by Virgil falling on them). Michael and me built a fire, having to go get more wood first, while Virgil and Desiree calmed down Charlotte. Charlotte currently was holding her head in her hands and was rocking back and forth, mumbling.

"Alright." I said, sitting down, "Why on Earth did you wake me up?" Michael smacked me in the back of the head. "What?"

"Charlotte, what happened to you tonight?" Michael asked. She looked up at us, slowly.

"Suicune-found Suicune in the forest. Tried to strangle it, d-dragged me across the damn world, Isshu-Hoenn-Kanto. Couldn't knock it out with rope and wood, and it iced the wood. Then, it started to gl-gl-glow purple, and now I can understand pokemon and they won't shut the fuck up!"

"Ah, that's not fair!" Desiree said, "I can only understand Chinchou, and you can understand all pokemon just because you tried to catch Suicune? You are just so lucky!" Now we all turned to Desiree, who was stroking Iggy. "What, I can understand Chinchou, all the women in my family can. I don't know why, it's just what we do. Also, Angela are you a reborn?" Michael grabbed me, as I nearly fell backwards. "I'll take that as a yes. I figured Virgil must be a former Zangoose, and I suspected you. It's nice to know that you two have something in common."

"How do you know about reborns?" Virgil asked.

"Hey, I'm the one whose been traumatized!" Charlotte cried, "Can we please focus on me and my problems for a little while?" Anna walked up to me, and climbed in to my lap.

"Angela, what is she talking about? Were you a pokemon once?" Anna asked. "Is this why you can talk to us?" You know, she probably should have questioned that sooner.

"You know, I'll explain that later." I said.

"What's a reborn? What are you people talking about!" Charlotte screamed, "I could understand your Treecko, it spoke in human words! Please shoot me, I'm begging you to shoot me." She pulled out her gun, "If I had this thing loaded I'd shoot myself right now!"

"That isn't loaded?" Michael asked.

"Flash bullets, just make a noise and a bright light." Charlotte said. "I hate bullets and guns, I only carry this thing because it looks dangerous!"

"Why not carry a knife?" Saya asked, hopping up beside Anna. "If you humans had claws, this wouldn't be a problem, but you don't, so get a knife. It's the next best thing."

"That's what I've said before." Virgil said.

"Please shut up." Charlotte moaned. "I just want the pokemon to stop talking. I mean, before the noise in the woods was just noise. Now it's people talking, not pokemon, and they won't-Shut-UP!" She looked like she was about to cry.

"In five minutes" I said, "We've discovered one of our companions can talk to pokemon, one can talk to Chinchou and knows about reborns, and one of them likes knives. I've taken so much info in, I just might pass out."

"The only thing I've heard so far is, everyone can talk to pokemon now except me!" Michael cried. I smacked him in the back of the head. "Sorry, it's just...I've always wanted to talk to pokemon, and now I'm literally the only one who can't!"

"Can we please just talk about me?" Charlotte asked. "I found a Suicune, tried to catch it, tried to knock it out, tried to get it to stop running, it told me it was interested in me, and now I can talk to pokemon. Please for the love of God make it stop. You're not human, use your mind powers!"

"...What makes you think I'm not human?" I asked.

"Desiree said you were something, a reborn? I kind of figured that meant you had mind powers or something. Can you please make the pokemon stop talking?"

"Okay, first of all" I said, "Being a reborn just means you died, and were brought back as a pokemon. Unless you died as a pokemon, then you were brought back as a human, like Virgil. Virgil, wave to them." Virgil waved. "Unless of course your me, you see I died and became an Eevee. Then I was an Umbreon for awhile, then I died a second time. Except then Robin made a sacrifice for me, and the reality where I died became an alternate reality so now I never died. Also, Donny didn't die Michael."

"You told me that already."

"Did I? Oh yeah."

"NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE!" Charlotte screamed. This screaming brought about the appearance of the one person who could make this situation worse.

"Pecha says be quiet!" Up till now, the Worthless Rejects had been asleep near the fire. Unfortunately, Pecha was awake, and for that we must now suffer.

"Yep, I can hear it, oh Christ why can I hear it?"

"You can understand I who is the Chu?" Pecha asked, "Then I demand that you cease your endless jibber-jabber! If not, you will no the wrath of the Chu and The Worthless Rejects!" I swear Pecha did a pose as she gave this little speech.

Charlotte then did something that even to this day I still get mad over.

"Keep away from me!" Charlotte yelled, kicking Pecha. Now as you know, I love all pokemon, even the ones that annoy me. You don't get to hurt them if you're around me, if you do, I do something desperate.

One of the pieces of wood in the fire was sticking out, not burning. Hot, but not on fire. I grabbed it, and tossed it at Charlotte.

"What are you doing!" Charlotte yelled, avoiding the poorly thrown piece of wood. Thankfully, their was nothing for the piece of wood to burn, just dirt. It burned out in a minute, and now everyone was starring at me. What? Why yes, your great Aunt Charlotte is a close friend of mine, why do you ask?

"Angela, what the hell?" Michael asked.

"You don't hurt pokemon" I said, keeping my tone calm, "Not annoying ones, not dangerous one, you don't kick them just because your mad. Pokemon didn't do anything to you, not even Pecha the loud." I turned to Charlotte. "You can now understand them talk? Do you know how many people would kill for that? Stop acting freaked out, you annoying twit."

"Pecha is fine!" Pecha said, hopping up again. "Going back to sleep, let none wake the Chu!" She then curled up in a ball, pressed against Rush. Rush was actually so close to the fire, I'm amazed he wasn't blazing, but then again, he still wouldn't have woken up. A cluster bomb couldn't wake Rush up.

"Stop acting freaked out? Do you know what it's like to have your whole world flipped upside down in an instant!"

"Oh please, this is nothing. You've never once visited the afterlife or spent time as an Eevee. You've never been under fire from a man wielding a machine gun. Hell, I bet you've never had your ribs broken and fixed by a ride on the psychedelic dream machine." Charlotte shut up after I said that. Her eyes were wide and her lip quivering, but she couldn't say anything.

"Alright" Michael said, "Desiree, how do you know about reborns?"

"Well, all the women in my family can understand Chinchou" Desiree said, smiling. "I don't know why really. Anyways, I have three other sisters, my oldest is dead, the next is working for the government, and the third is in jail for attempting to blow up a Starter Pokemon breeding center. My oldest sister, Ashley, died when I was only two, but was reborn as my first Chinchou. We spent three years together, really got to know each other, and she explained about reborns. She also said their was something called Super Pokemon?"

"Super Pokemon, that's a dumb name," I said, "Not Pokemon is so much more clever."

"Don't know a lot about them." Desiree said. "Well, Ashley eventually asked to be released, so I let her go. I got Iggy then to be my new model, isn't he cute?"

"Have you run into other reborns before?" Virgil asked.

"Nope, in fact I wasn't sure reverse reborns existed. I just assumed they did, and you proved me right! Except, what are you Angela?"

"It's a long story." I replied.

"A very long story." Michael mumbled.

"Mine is not long." Virgil said, "I was a Zangoose, I was shot and killed, then I was brought back as a human. I preferred being a Zangoose, but I have attempted to adjust to this...different form."

"Why would anyone prefer being a pokemon over being a human?" Charlotte asked. "Can you imagine how boring, or unfulfilling of a life that would be?"

"A much more fulfilling life then this one." Virgil snapped. "In that form, I was the conqueror of a kingdom of trees. I can still feel my claws grip the bark, and my legs push off, propelling me through the air. The air rushing across my fur and the...figure beside me."

"How painfully dull." Charlotte said. "You can't get fulfillment from that life, a life of nothing. A life of non-stop fighting, possible death around every corner, and for what? To hold onto some trees? To fight some more pokemon whose only crime was not being you? It's barbaric."

"Yet the life long pursuit of money is not?" Virgil asked, "Capturing innocent pokemon and selling them to a possibly abusive trainer? Do you ever question why you do these things?"

"I don't need to question them." Charlotte snapped. "I have my reasons. Don't think though that just because I can understand pokemon doesn't mean I won't sell them. They could beg me not to catch them, I don't care. It'll hurt, but believe me, I can live with it." Charlotte closed her mouth, and stared at the fire, not uttering a sound.

"Angela, why does Charlotte want to sell pokemon?" Anna asked.

"I honestly don't know." I replied. "She has her reasons though, not my place to ask." Well, maybe later.

"I don't mind her selling pokemon." Saya said, "We've all gotta make a living somehow. Plus, more pokemon sold to trainers, more challenges waiting for me out there. Let them come, I'll be waiting for them, ha ha!" I could see Charlotte grimacing as Saya spoke. I don't know if it was Saya's words, or the fact that Charlotte could understand her.

"I mind it." I said, "Not going to complain though, not since she's financing our little journey."

"Angela, can I ask you something?" Michael asked.

"You already are."

"When I was a trainer, what did you and the others think of me? I mean, I should have asked sooner, but I never thought of it till now. All this talk of pokemon, and to pokemon, and I never really knew. You told me some things, but not much. I should have wondered more since they all asked to leave, or at least Titan and Bane did."

"We never really talked about it." I said, "But yeah, they were grateful for you. Like Sharon was because you took her away from her kingdom, or Bane because you made his exile easier, or Flash because you helped him get over the death of his brothers family."

"What?"

"You know, it's a long story, I'll explain later." I said.

"Guys, can you please do something for me?" Charlotte asked suddenly. All six of us turned to Charlotte. "Please, no more secrets in the group. You guys can explain your stories more tomorrow, but no more secrets. I mean, you people are, well, extraordinary for lack of a better word. I don't need to spend another night like this." She stood up. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to try to sleep, if the fucking pokemon would just shut up."

"We won't keep anymore secrets." I said, stopping Charlotte in mid-step. "If you give us yours. After all, we can trust each other, right?"

"You know, maybe we should keep some secrets." Charlotte said. "Good night." Charlotte then crawled into her tent, zipping it shut.

"I'm going to sleep out here tonight." Desiree said, "It's been a real long night, and I doubt I'll get any sleep with Charlotte. Plus, she needs a night alone."

"I'll stay with you tonight." Virgil said, "To keep you company." Okay, weird.

"Let's go back to bed." I told Michael, standing up with Anna and Saya. Michael scooped up the rest of the Worthless Rejects (minus Iggy), and we headed back to our tent.

"So, when Charlotte said no secrets, and we would tell our stories tomorrow" Michael began, "Does that mean that you'll tell her about all the times people tried to kill you? Or that their are supernatural enemies out to kill you? Or that her life could be in danger by being with us?"

"Some things really should just remain secret." I mumbled. "Now let's get to sleep, we have a long journey tomorrow."

Tomorrow was going to be a long day, but it was also going to be a good one for me. I just didn't know it.

**AN: **I dunno if this chapter turned out as well as it could have, but I'm still proud of it.


	28. Darheel, AKA Bob

**AN: **Finaly on schedule. Anyways, it's an odd chapter, but it's a good one in my opinion. Plus, I love Scyther. Thanks to all who reviewed.

**XXVIII: Darheel, A.K.A Bob**

The next morning was quiet. Completely quiet as we walked down the path towards Azalea Town.

Charlotte was staring at her feet, eyes half opened. I had expected her to be asking me something, want to know something, but no. She hadn't said a word all day. No one wanted to break the silence, myself included.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" Anna asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Silly human stuff." Saya said, "Doesn't concern us any. Next gym though, it's the bug guy if I remember correctly. Actually, some people said bug girl, but anyways, insect-types! What do you think?"

"I'm not really bothered." Anna said. "Insect-types don't scare me much, not like flying-types. In the breeding center where I was born, their were Wurmple there. I always thought they were cute, not dangerous. Even though I've seen different insect-types since then, they still don't bother me. I just keep seeing a Wurmple."

"Really?" Saya asked, "How about when you see that?" She gestured foreword, as a Scyther walked out of the woods.

"...Gah" We all stopped, watching the beautiful, majestic, bladed insect come out of the woods. My heart began racing.

"Why is their a Scyther here?" Michael asked, "They travel in swarms, not individually. Better question, what the hell is it doing on this route of all places? Do Scyther usually show up anywhere outside of that bug garden thing in Goldenrod?"

"Do I care? Nope, not even in the slightest. I want to catch it though!" I said, "Look at those blades! They could cut through steel! Or a soft throat if necessary."

"You get scary when you talk about pokemon." Michael said.

"I say capture it." Virgil said, "Scyther and Zangoose are allies against serpents. In addition, if Zangoose came into conflict with any ghost-types, they would help us fight them."

"Good enough for me, Saya, you're up."

"I'll kill him!" Saya said, hopping out. All of the others walked off to the side of the trail, except me, Anna, and Saya.

"Pecha would like to fight against the fluttery bug!" Pecha ranted to Trish, Rush, and Streak. "I need to flex my cheek sacks. I find myself growing bored."

"Never thought I'd say this, but I agree with the rodent." Trish said, "We need more to do. If I don't fight something soon, my head will explode."

"Why fight?" Rush asked, "You could loose, or get hurt. You should try to be happy without fighting!"

"We'll consider that Option Never." Trish mumbled. Suddenly, Desiree grabbed the miniature metal bird. "What the hell are you doing!"

"She doesn't like that." Iggy said, "You should let Trish go."

"I will." Desiree said, "First though I'm going to immortalize you two fighting the giant flaming Scyther, while saving a building full of orphans."

"Tell her to put me...immortalized? Carry on."

The Scyther had yet to notice me, Saya, Anna, or our large group. Right now, it was bent down at a bush, sticking berries onto its blades and eating them. I nodded to Saya, and snuck up behind the Scyther.

"Why did she nod?" Saya asked, "Am I supposed to follow her?"

"I would assume so." Anna said.

"ATTACK!" I yelled, pointing at the Scyther, waiting for my fierce Horsea to bring on the pain. Scyther flipped around to see me, and was not greeted by a ferocious fighting water-type. "...Shit"

"Sister human!" The Scyther yelled happily, "Hello fellow human, it's so nice to meet you on this beautiful day!"

"Sister human?" I asked, "Uh, okay. Look, I'm trying to capture you, so could you please start attacking my Horsea who isn't here!"

"Here now." Saya said, hopping over. "Sorry, I totally wasn't getting what you wanted me to do, it's really confusing."

"Wait, can you understand me?" The Scyther asked. I nodded. "Woo-hoo! The gods have finally acknowledged my true soul, and given me back my ability to speak the language of the humans!"

"Why does every pokemon I meet have to be insane?" I mumbled. "Your true soul?" He sighed.

"You may not believe this sister human" He said, "As all you can see is this hard shell and these sharp blades. I am not a Scyther, even though my appearance suggests I am. No, my soul is the soul of a human, unfairly born into the wrong body, as some kind of test I believe. I am a human, unfortunately stuck in the body of a Scyther, though I have finally begun to speech my human speech again. It is a wonderful day."

"Could you please look me in the eyes?" I asked. The Scyther's piercing green eyes met mine, but that was it. No final moments replaying before my eyes. "Alright, well I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you."

"You could never disappoint me, sister human."

"Call me sister human again and I'll break off both your blades and shove them up your green asshole." I snapped. "You're not speaking human, I can speak pokemon. That's why I can understand you, no one else can. Second, I'm still going to capture you."

"Still can't speak my original tongue." Scyther said with a sigh. "What a disappointment. Oh well, I've had a life time to get used to these disappointments. So, you wish to capture me? Would you really be able to live with yourself knowing that you had taken the freedom of one of your fell-" That's when I cut him off by tossing a pokeball at him.

"He didn't know the meaning of shut up." I mumbled. The pokeball shook once, and then snapped back open. "Crap."

"I wasn't done speaking." Scyther said, "That was terribly rude of you, you should not interrupt people. It is apparent though you do not care about the souls of your fellow humans."

"Not if it will get me further ahead." I replied. "Saya, ice beam." Saya fired off a stream of ice straight at the green bug. The ice instead passed through him, freezing a patch of ground, as the Scyther zipped behind me.

"You'll have to try harder then that if you want to capture me." Scyther said.

"You got a name insect?" I asked.

"My birth name was Darheel." He said, "I don't particularly like that name, it's not the name of a human. Instead, I selected the name of Bob to reflect my real spirit."

"When I catch you, I'll go with Darheel." I said, "Bob is so lame, couldn't you have picked something more memorable?" As I said this, Saya hopped over.

"It would be your choice I suppose." Darheel said. "What pray tell is your name Ms.?"

"Angela." I said, "Angela Duncan, your soon to be trainer."

"We shall see." Saya, without warning, fired another ice beam between my legs. Instead, Scyther zipped away, and Saya had mis-aimed. I screamed, as my right leg from the knee down was encased in ice. In the distance, I could hear the others laughing.

"Why did you ice me!" I screamed.

"I thought you nodded!" Saya yelled, "I wanted you to know that I was paying attention, so I tried to hit him!"

"Do I look like I'm nodding!" I screamed. "Gah, it hurts!" Using all of my energy, I tried to break my leg out of the ice, and failed. I couldn't even bend down due to the damn ice, wonderful.

"If this is your only strategy, I'm not going anywhere." Darheel said. "You know, their is a way you could get me to come with you."

"What?"

"I could tell you, but what fun would that be?" Dick.

"Saya, rapid fire water-gun, Anna, pound!" Saya begin to spit fast streams of water at Scyther, who buzzed out of the way. She followed him, spraying water, and hitting me in the chest once. Thankfully, I was hit hard enough to break me out of my ice prison.

Now, I'm not sure what happened until I sat up, I just heard about it from Saya. Apparently Darheel misstepped, or stepped into a shot of water. Anyways, he was moving fast enough so that when he got hit, it sent him spinning like a top, landing face first into the dirt.

Anna used this as an opportunity to run, and slam her tail into the back of Darheel's skull as he started to get up. He was slammed back into the ground, but sadly not onto a rock.

"That hurt." Darheel said. I sat up, just in time to see Darheel bounce up, and hit Anna with the broad side of his left blade. Anna flipped through the air like a small, green coin, landing on all fours.

Saya used this to once again fire an ice beam, but this one hit. Hitting him on the right side, it pinned Darheel's right blade and wing against his body. For some reason, Darheel started to laugh at this.

"Bravo Ms. Angela, you have a well trained team. I myself am not at a particularly high level, and I do believe if you became my trainer, you could help me improve vastly."

"So, will you come with me?" I asked.

"Nope, you still haven't figured out how to make me come with you." Darheel said. He then rushed at Saya, and kicked her with his bizarre foot. Saya tried to grip Darheel's foot, except their is no way for her to grip is, and she took the blow under her snout.

Little green balls of energy began to be sucked off Darheel, into Anna, but he hardly noticed. He tried to step on Saya, but she fired off a huge cloud of bubbles, which somehow held his foot up.

Darheel swung his left blade through the cloud of bubbles, hitting Saya and pulling her up. All the while, Anna continued to absorb energy from him. Darheel headbutted Saya back down, and prepared to deliver the finishing blow, when he noticed the little, green energy bits.

"What in the world? Oh wait, I almost forgot about you." Darheel rushed at Anna, left blade raised. The ice that had been holding his right wing and blade shattered, freeing both of them.

"Oh crap." Anna whispered, seizing up.

"Quick attack!" I yelled. Anna rushed away, between Darheel's legs, causing him to slash at the air. She then leapt and slammed into his backside, causing him to stumble. Anna then held onto his back, between his wings, absorbing for all her life.

"Very good." Darheel said, attempting to flutter his wings and knock off Anna. No luck. He tried to hit her with his blades, but couldn't reach far enough back to knock off the tiny Treecko. He spun around, swinging his blades, trying his hardest to knock off Anna. To her credit, Anna looked ill, but wasn't even weakening in the slightest. That's a memory of Anna that's always stuck out in my mind, it reminded me how much stronger she had gotten on our journey.

"Come on, get closer." I mumbled, watching the two spin around. Darheel moved close to Saya, and flipped around to face her, but not paying attention. "Ice beam!"

Saya fired, and Darheel pivoted on one leg, flipping around. The ice beam encased both his wings, and encased Anna on his back. Of course.

"Thank you for that." Darheel said, "She was beginning to annoy me." He then slashed Saya across the face, but the blade seemed to vanish before touching her. That was odd...

Darheel then leapt backwards, smashing into the ground hard. The ice shattered, freeing his wings, and badly hurting Anna. For a second, Anna lay there, bruised, bloody, eyes closed.

"Gah!" Her eyes shot open, and Anna stood up, swaying as she did. She absorbed again, but almost no energy came off of Darheel. He smirked, and slashed her across the chest, or almost did. Again, as the blade came close, it seemed to vanish, did it really hit Anna?

Anna was knocked back onto her rear, but was still conscious. Her left eye had swollen shut, and her right eye was bruised. Slowly, she tried to push herself up.

"Anna, stop. The battle is over." I shouted at her.

"N-No." Anna replied, "Not over, gonna knock out Scyther for you." Anna fell back down, but once again tried to get up.

"Anna, stop!" I shouted, "I am ordering you to stop."

"We're not stopping." Saya said to me, "We've gotta knock him out, so you can catch him. To prove that we could knock him out."

"You've proven it!" I said, "Please stop, you're going to badly hurt yourselves, you can't do that."

"Ms. Angela, I must give you credit." Darheel said, "Your pokemon are devoted to you, I rarely meet two so loyal. I can assure you, they are in no real danger by fighting me, I will not badly injure them." As soon as he finished saying that, he did his almost swipe again at Anna.

Anna was knocked back, but she was no more injured or hurt. He wasn't slashing them then, it just looked like it. What was he doing to them? It was almost hurting them, but leaving them alive, it was something like...

"False swipe." I yelled, "Why are you using false swipe?"

"You figured it out!" Darheel said, "Very good, yes I am resisting knocking your two pokemon out. They won't be able to knock me out either though, because I want you to figure out how to get me to come with you. Tell me Ms. Angela, as a fellow human, what would you do?"

"Excuse me?"

"How do you get a human to go with you?" I opened my mouth, but paused before saying anything. It was so simple, it hit me out of the blue.

"You ask them." I mumbled. "Darheel, I know what you want."

"Yes?" I walked over to him slowly.

"I would really like it if you would come with me, and be my pokemon." I said to him. Darheel smiled, both eyes closed as he did. Okay, weird.

"I would be delighted Ms. Angela." He said. I pulled out a pokeball. "Just as an aside, I'm barely standing up. Despite what I said, your two pokemon almost knocked me out. You should be proud of them."

"I am." I said, tossing the ball. It consumed the Scyther, shook thrice, and clicked shut. I scooped up the ball, Anna, and Saya, before returning to the others. Michael pulled out two Super Potions from his bag.

"I picked up twenty of these, figured they might be helpful." He said, spraying Saya.

"You'd be right." I said, spraying the other on Anna. Charlotte scooted up beside me, looking at Darheel's ball.

"So, a Scyther that thinks he's a human?" She asked.

"Yep. Believe it or not, that's normal for me. I've got a ton of stories, if you want to hear them."

"...Angela, I do want to some day. Just not now. We've both got secrets we don't want to tell, and when you tell me yours, it'll be because I'm willing to tell you mine." I smiled at that."

"I look foreword to that day."

Yep, in one day I had caught a human in a Scyther body, and made amends with Charlotte. Somehow, that had become a normal day for me.


	29. Dream World

**AN: **Sorry about the late update, things are busy here. Anyways, I'm experimenting a little with plot ideas, and this is a small experiment. A bigger one will be posted in a couple of chapters.

**XXIX: A World of Dreams**

"You know, things are going to be a lot easier for us now." Saya said, "Now that we've got crazy boy, we've got three on our side, we'll kick that bug losers ass, and they'll erect a statue to me, in honor of my skills as a warrior!"

"Saya, you shouldn't be allowed to call people crazy." I heard Trish say, "Especially given that you yourself aren't the patron saint of sanity."

"And you are?"

"I'm the only sane bird in this group." Trish replied.

It was the next day, and we were a day away from Azalea town. I wanted to be there, I wanted that badge so badly I could already taste it, and it was salty.

"You are nervous sister Angela" Darheel said, coming up beside me, "Why are you so nervous?"

"I told you to stop calling me sister" I snapped, "Keep it up, and I'll make sure you enter a world of pain."

"Sister Charlotte and Brother Virgil do not mind me calling them as such." Darheel replied.

"That's because Charlotte has gone mute, and Virgil is human in body only. Now shut up and please leave me alone. I want to stew in my own anxiety." Darheel sighed, and nodded. Anna came up beside him.

"Angela is nervous about the next gym battle." Anna said. "She can't help it, it's a big deal really for all of us."

"Ah yes, she mentioned those." Darheel said, "I do not entirely see the relevance. What will be, will be. You can not worry about tomorrow when today still is. We will succeed though, have no fear Sister Anna."

"I'm not afraid." Anna said, "Insect-types don't scare me, plus"

"Plus she has me!" Gabriel said, coming up beside her. "Me and my strong blue arms, and rapid fire water guns. Me and my strong, hard as steel" The rest of Garbiel's verbal masturbation is omitted due to indecency.

"Okay" I said, walking over to Michael, "Grab your Totodile, I heard yet another come on directed at Anna. This one was really, really creepy."

"Really? I think it's cute that Gabriel wants to take Anna as his mate. Besides, we've got to except the possibility that our pokemon may want to mate with each other. It will happen."

"Not between Anna and Gabriel though." I snarled, "Also, how the hell can you possibly think it's cute? You can't understand pokemon, in fact, you're the only one in our group who can't!"

"You're right, I can't. Thanks for reminding me." Michael responded, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Angela, I honestly doubt the two would end up mating, if what you've said about Gabriel's come ons are true. Even if they do, you can't be upset about it, you've got to deal with it. Besides, I don't see any problem, Anna just clocked him." I turned, just in time to see Gabriel spin around, while gripping his right eye. Anna was talking to Darheel, unballing her fist. Kick ass Anna.

"Why did you hit me?" Gabriel asked, "I didn't do anything to you, just asked if you were going to be in heat soon, and needed some companionship. What's wrong with that?"

"If you don't know, their is something wrong with you." Anna said, "Do you seriously only think with your penis?"

"Only when a beautiful grass-type such as you is around." Gabriel said, smiling.

"You know Brother Gabriel, their is more to life then attempting to fornicate with Sister Anna." Darheel said.

"The words of someone who has never done a grass-type." Gabriel replied.

"If I have to listen to this every day" I mumbled, "This is going to be a very long, long trip."

* * *

The real action that day didn't actually occur during that day. No, rather it occurred eight hours later, at night.

One thing I realized was our group usually went to sleep early, which is what happens when you spend all day walking along a dirt trail. I was asleep in my tent, Michael beside me, his body keeping me warm. Anna, Saya, Gabriel, and most of the Worthless Rejects were in the tent with us. Darheel had to spend the night in his ball, something I disliked, but his size and need to stand and sleep was an obstacle I couldn't get around.

"Angela." A voice, soft, whispering in my ear. I was still asleep really, so the voice didn't penetrate. "Angela." A bit more, but I ignored it and rolled onto my side. "Electrocute."

For a split second, I could feel electricity pour through my body, jerking both my eyes open, and leaving my limbs stiff. Above me floated Not Meowth, of course.

"I've decided to leave you paralyzed." Not Meowth said, "I know you're angry and want to strangle me, hence why I'm doing this. You need the others to be asleep for this to work. Don't worry, I can hear your thoughts, and only you can hear me, so we can till talk."

_I'm going to kill you_

"You can't, I'm already dead!"

_That just makes how I'm going to do it all the more interesting. _Not Meowth paused for a moment, before responding.

"It's time for you to try out the ability we have given you Angela, the ability to enter the mind. The best time to do it, and never be in danger is when people are dreaming. When they dream, they can accept the most insane, out of place things, but not care."

_You want me to enter my friends minds, and watch their dreams?_

"Is that a violation of your moral code?"

_No, just wanted to verify before I did it._

"Alright." Not Meowth sighed. "I honestly wish that I didn't have to have you do this, but it is necessary for the events yet to occur. The first step is simply knowing how to enter the mind. I know you will do well, farewell Angela." With that, he departed, and I unfroze.

"Ugh, this is going to be a long night." I mumbled. Slowly, I pushed myself up, and held up my arms. "Which one is the tattoo on? Eh, I'll figure it out later." I maneuvered my hands over the mass of small, sleeping bodies beside me. "How the hell does this work? Do I" My arm began to glow bright red. "Never mind, I guess it's working." Now everything was glowing red, and I was falling...

...And landed flat on my ass. I was in a room, made of solid gold. All around me were figures in yellow robes, with pointed ears on top. Also, brown stripes on the back, and fake lightning bolt tails on the bottom. Oh fuck.

"I'm in Pecha's mind." I mumbled. "Wonderful, just wonderful."

"All hail our King and Queen!" The hooded idiots yelled, "All hail King Pecha and Queen Rush." This I had to see.

Slowly, I pushed my way through the crowd, just in time to see another mass carrying a giant platform, made of gold. On top were Pecha and Rush, wearing crowns, waving at the crowd. Which given that Rush has four legs, was really impressive.

"Uh, how exactly is Pecha queen if she's a she?" I asked one of the hooded dopes.

"It is because Pecha says it is!" The hood replied. "All is the will of Pecha, and the will of Pecha shall be!"

"What the fuck does that mean?" I asked, scratching my head. Suddenly, every hood turned to me. "What?"

"You dare question the word of the Chu?" They asked in unison.

"Someone dares to question the word of Pecha of the house of Chu!" Pecha asked. "They shall be punished. Bring them to me, and bring me my beheading sword."

"Be-beheading sword?" I bolted, trying to make it through the crowd. The mindless zealots instead grabbed me, and dragged me over to Pecha's platform. "What the fuck are you doing! You're beheading me for questioning a fucking rodent."

"You shall be punished!" Pecha shouted, hefting a broad sword over her head. My heart racing, I screamed, as the sword came down. The tattoo glowed red, turning the world red.

Suddenly, I was back in the tent. Pecha was still asleep, in fact their was no movement from the group of pokemon. I wasn't in the dream anymore.

"Okay, that was weird." I mumbled. "I was afraid that I was going to be beheaded, and all I kept thinking was I wanted out...so did that do it? Is this thing thought activated?" I sighed.

"Alright, what else do I know. Not Meowth told me if I get hurt, at all, without my spirit-energy-pokemon armor on, I'll loose my mind. Or my soul, or what ever the fuck Not Meowth was talking about. Okay, next time put on my pokemon suit, try not to get beheaded. Sounds easy."

I ran my hand along the various sleeping forms, careful not to wake them. Pecha, Streak, Trish...Trish it is.

_Okay, I'm entering her mind, I can enter her mind, I can_

My arm began to glow bright red, pulling me into her mind. This time, I didn't fall flat on my ass, instead landing on my feet. I was in a room, I think, it wasn't very clear. Their was fog all over the floor, and light above me. In the distance, I could see Trish and Pecha.

"That is when Pecha did something that only Pecha thinks is important" Pecha ranted, "Then Pecha gave a long and annoying speech" Pecha sprouted a second mouth below her first one, "Then Pecha sprouted a second mouth, and then"

"GAH!" Trish's tiny wings expended, wrapping around Pecha's throat. Trish strangled the annoying Chu, who gagged for a moment, then went limp. "She's dead! Thank you God, Pecha is finally dead! Ha! Ha!"

"You know, I think I'd like to stay here." I said, smiling. "Sadly, I must be going. Next time, I should probably open one of these...pokeballs." Their were three now tethered to me by red cable. The silver thread though was still sticking out to the right, going no where.

"Where the hell does this thing go? Never mind, I can figure it out later." I closed my eyes, focusing on getting out of there. When I opened them, I was in the tent, hand on Trish. She was smiling, which given that she had a beak was weird.

I moved my hand along, feeling the fin of Rush. Nope, keep going, the last place I want to enter was Rush's head. Instead, I came to Saya's head. Meh, still safer then Rush's head.

The tent glowed red (was I the only one who could see it?) and I was floating on an island? Or a big square of wood apparently. It was night, but in spite of that, I could see everything perfectly.

"Alright, I'm in Saya's mind, so Saya's ball..." Their were only two balls, not three now. "I guess I can't use Saya when I'm in her mind. Not that it would matter, these damn balls aren't labeled!" I opened the left ball, and was covered in a green energy. One that constricted my hands in sharp blades. "Darheel, well this will be a nice change I guess."

In the distance, I could see lighting, and water beginning to swirl in a thin spout. I moved quickly across the water, propelled by my bug wings, towards the swirl.

"This-this is awesome." Saya had two arms, made of water, and was swinging a sword. Her opponent had three hands, all skulls and on fire, was holding five swords, also on fire, and was towering over the Kingdra. Kingdra? Yep, Saya was evolved, and swinging a giant sword.

"You will not defeat me Saya, defender of the world of water!" The three skulled monster thing yelled. It was then I noticed that the water around them was also on fire.

"I will defeat you Mr. Evil!" Nice to see Saya's creative skills hard at work. "I will save the continent of flaming ice, and the orphanages you tried to blow up! Then I'll save the puppy farm!"

"You will not!" He knocked Saya's sword away, throwing it at me. I jumped to the left, avoiding being sliced in two. "You will not, because I have knocked away your sword!"

"I will!" Saya said, pulling a gun out of her ass. "I will because I've got a plasma gun!" With that, she fired, and blew Mr. Evils head clean off. "I am the queen of all that is awesome!"

"Yes you are." I said with a grin, exiting Saya's mind. "Alright, I've been doing this for" I took a look at my watch, "Less then four minutes. Huh. Alright, one more I suppose." I moved on to a scaly back side. "Anna maybe? Let's give it a go."

You know, the moment I landed, I should have known something was wrong. I was in a forest, except it was mirrored. Their was music playing somewhere, and I could hear moaning.

I moved through the forest, not bothering to armor up. If I had, I might have killed him.

In front of me was Gabriel, with Anna bent over, thrusting. Oh good Lord.

"Want out! Want out! Can't unsee!"

"You are incredible Gabriel!" Anna moaned, "I shouldn't have ignored your advances for so long."

"I told you Anna, I just wanted to make you happy." Gabriel said, "Now I can do it." Almost sweet, if they both didn't start screaming then. Finally, mercifully, I found myself pulled out of the dream.

"Oh thank you whoever is out there." I moaned. "I should head to sleep..." I looked over at Michael's sleeping form "Or I could try one more." I placed my hands over Michael.

I was in a ballroom. A beautiful ball room, with soft music playing. Only the center of the room was lit, and I could see myself and Michael. Dancing a waltz, the light following both of us. Michael was in a tuxedo, while I was wearing a black dress and long, white gloves.

"Have I mentioned how much I love you?" Michael asked.

"Every moment of every day." Angela 2 said. "I'm so glad that we're together. Now that I'm the pokemon champion of the world, and you cured ever disease using breath mints and a 9 volt battery, we can spent the rest of our lives happy."

"How right you are." Michael said. He leaned in, and kissed Angela 2.

"Awe, how sweet." I said with a smile. They kept kissing, and Michael moved both of my straps down. "Uh, Michael?" Michael and Angela 2 hit the ground, undressing rapidly. "Oh come on!"

I watched for another thirty seconds, before finally pulling out of the dream. Michael was smiling, and his pants had a very suspect bulge in them. "So, you think that just because it's a dream, I'm just there to have sex with you? Have sex with this!" I picked Gabriel up by his tail, and he was still asleep. I maneuvered his mouth over Michael's bulge. Before I did anything else, I paused.

"You know, I'm glad that I got this practice. I think I'm improving some. I also probably shouldn't do this, but then again, I probably shouldn't do a lot of things." With a smile, I clamped Gabriel's jaws down hard.


	30. In Thy Name

**AN: **I've decided to focus a bit more on the villians in this story then I did in ALNM. Some of the things they disscuss may make people uncomfertable, and if so, that was not my intention. My intention is not to preach, to spread my ideas, or to offend people, just to tell an interesting story.

**XXX: In Her Name**

"Are you ready child?" Grek asked. "What you are doing is a tribute to the Goddess who lives in the sun, but it is frightening. Their would be no shame in backing out."

"I do not wish to back out." The girl replied. "I am loyal to the Goddess, it is her will." The girl bent her head back down, touching it to the floor of Grek's meditation chamber. Whatever she was thinking was known only to the goddess, not to Grek.

She was beautiful, in ways that set Grek's soul ablaze. Her soft blonde hair, her perfect skin, her body, all of it beautiful. Grek wanted her, to hold her and make love to her, but it didn't matter what he wanted.

She had devoted to the Goddess.

"I am done." She said, standing up and brushing off her red robe. "I have said all I have to say." She exited his chamber, not to be seen again until that evening. Grek sat down on the floor, sighing.

"I'm not even allowed to know her name." Grek mumbled. "It is tragic. I-I don't understand all of this."

"What do you need to understand?" She asked. The Goddess, her form that of a Milotic. "I know you have faith in me Grek."

"Thank you my Goddess." Grek responded. "I am troubled by these things we are doing. I mean, we are asking people to give their lives, for what I am not sure!"

"For the greater good." The Goddess said. "You must continue to have faith, study the Book of Light, the answers are in there."

"Yes, but is faith really all that I need?" Grek asked.

"Why is it Grek that you are the first Chrono to have met me," The Goddess began, "And yet you are the one who has doubted me most of all. I believed you were worthy, worthy to know me and to carry to fruition the Grand Awakening."

"I am worthy goddess." Grek replied.

"Good. I understand your fear my child, but you have no reason to be afraid. Once Tagger's heir has joined us, all will make sense. Stay in the Light my child."

"I will my Goddess."

_

* * *

_

And peace shall be brought to all peoples of the Earth. This is the Grand Awakening.

"And it shall be." Grek read out loud. These were the words from the Lost Passages of Light, discovered shortly before the Goddess appeared to Grek. The volume was not to be read by anyone except Grek, the council of elders, and the Seventh Order.

Currently Grek was in his office, meditating on the volume. Even in spite of the great peace promised, Grek was nervous. It-faith simply wasn't enough for him to go on, their needed to be more!

"Chrono sir." A speaker on Grek's desk suddenly chirped up. "Alexander and Phoebe Vacile are here to see you sir." Speaking of the Seventh Order.

The Seventh Order was created by Grek, under the word of the goddess. It was a branch of the Tabernacle that Grek had little involvement in. While he directed them, they acted largely on their own accord. Seven humans, each with one pokemon, advancing the cause of the Goddess in the Sun. The unofficial leaders of the Order were the twins Alexander and Phoebe.

Grek looked across the room at Elim, his Xatu. Currently he could only see one of Elim's eyes.

"I wish I could see what you see." Grek mumbled. "You know how everythings going to turn out, before it happens." The doors to his office opened.

"Hello Grek." Two voices said in unison. Unlike the council of elders and Grek, no one in the Order wore robes. Alexander was in a navy jumpsuit, wearing white boots and gloves. Phoebe on the other hand was in a green jumpsuit, in black gloves and boots. Behind Alexander was a female Absol, his, named Sari. Behind Phoebe was a male Alakazam, hers, named Soto.

Grek absolutely could not stand the two of them, in the slightest. They were disturbing in appearance, pale, with platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Their speech was often in unison, and was always monotone. They were in Grek's mind, a cancer gnawing at the Tabernacle.

"Tonight is the night of the fifth sacrifice." They said. "After this, it will be time for the five souls taken. The Order will begin preparations soon, we wish to discuss this with you."

"Do what ever the hell you want." Grek mumbled, "It doesn't concern me."

"Oh, but it does." They said, "You have a direct line to the Goddess, which we do not possess. You must give us her will, so that we may carry it out." Suddenly, Soto's head began too glow purple, a glow that spread to Phoebe and then Alexander.

"We can see your thoughts Chrono Grek. You have doubts of the will of the goddess."

"That's not it." Grek tried to say, "I merely have questions, their is nothing wrong with questions."

"Questions weaken your ties with the goddess. You should not question her will, questions will lead you to ruin."

"So, you have all the answers then, huh?" Grek asked.

"We know that what the Goddess does will bring order to the world. Those who fall in line will be blessed, those who don't will be destroyed. This you shall not question, it is what shall be."

"I-I'm not sure that I'm willing to do what it needs to be there. I am nervous, I know I shouldn't question the Goddess, but I can't help it. I need resolutions, more then just words saying that it will all turn out alright."

"We do not need words, and yet we understand it is for the best, for her will." They said in unison. "We have faith, faith that now wavers in you."

"It's just, why are we doing this?"

"To bring unity to the world."

"The Goddess could bring unity to the world if she chose to just by blinking. Why all of the subterfuge, why ask people to give to give up so much, or why take it?"

"The Goddess has given them life, they should be grateful for all that they can give."

"Do you two ever talk without the other one talking?" Grek asked.

"Does that bother you?" They asked.

"More then a little bit." Grek replied.

"Irrelevant. We are initiating the monitoring of Taggers heir. While we do not yet have a camera on her, our operatives will soon be watching her every move. When will we need to apprehend her."

"No idea. The Goddess hasn't told me yet. I'm not entirely sure why we're doing with her, other then she's the final key to salvation."

"We do not need to know why the heir is needed." They responded, "We merely need to trust the goddess." Grek had noticed the two were holding hands, fingers intertwined. "The Seventh Order has also begun working on the Wraith plan. Our operatives are moving through Ectruteak City as we speak. Unfortunately, we do not know where to go once we have retrieved the wraith, and our men do not like to spend their time sitting on their hands."

"To bad. It's not time yet." Grek snapped. "We simply need to possess the wraith, spirit-thing right now."

"With the wraith" The two said, "The Goddess will allow us to reign fire down on the disbelieving masses."

"I certainly hope not." Grek mumbled. "I just want them to believe, death...never mind. It is not my place to question the will of the Goddess."

"For once, we agree entirely Grek." The two said.

* * *

A few hours later, the sun had begun to dip behind the horizon. Grek looked down on the city that lay outside of his window. It seemed quieter then usual now.

"I just wanted to create peace in the world." Grek said to himself. "I thought it would get easier the more often that I did this. It hasn't though, it's actually gotten harder! I wanted to help people, not kill them! Even if it's a necessary evil, make it necessary for someone else!"

_Maybe that is why the goddess does this, as a test! A test of your loyalty to her!_

"For the Goddess knows your heart" Grek mumbled, "Those who are loyal she knows, and she loves all. She will not force us to do wrong." A verse from the Third Book of Light, one of Grek's favorites.

Currently Grek was in his ceremonial robe, made of a heavy, itchy material and a hideous shade of green. Grek despised it, but was forced to wear it for this occasion. He could feel sweat role down his body, making wearing this thing all the more unpleasant.

Suddenly the intercom on Grek's desk buzzed, and he knew what it meant. It was time, time to be given the fifth emotion.

The Chamber of the Goddess was in the basement of the building, which Grek could reach through his private elevator, all others on the stairs. He preferred the elevator, having once tripped on the stairs and had knocked down six of his followers on the way down.

The doors opened to the chamber, lit only by oil lamps that hung on the walls, and a large candelabra set up in front of the alter to the Goddess. Around the alter stood the council of elders, each in a yellow robe.

"Oh Goddess, except this girl." They chanted. Grek moved through them, without a word given. They barely noticed his existence.

"Oh Goddess, except this girl." The girl, the blonde girl, nude and on the alter. Grek could not know her name, only the Goddess was allowed to know her name. Her eyes were closed, and her nipples were erect due to the cold. As much as Grek hated to admit it, she stimulated him sexually. She was smiling, she was happy that this was happening.

"Oh Goddess, except this girl." They continued to chant. Suddenly, they all stopped. From both sides of Grek, Alexander and Phoebe marched up beside him.

"We have come tonight, to show our devotion to the Goddess who lives in the sun." They said. "Through her sacrifice, their will be a new world. A world where human and pokemon exist as equals, where people know nothing but love. A world without fighting, without strife, without difference. In this world, we will live eternally bathed in the light of the sun, never knowing misery. It will be a glorious world, and we will reign over it, ensuring peace among all who live within. With this girl's sacrifice."

One of them, Alexander or Phoebe, it didn't mater, handed Grek a golden knife. He tilted the blade for a second, looking at his reflection, his fear. Hands shaking, Grek poised the blade above the girls nude form.

"I-I don't know that I can do this." Grek whispered.

"You can Grek." They whispered back, both taking placing their hands on his. "It has to be you that does this, you're are Chrono." They steadied his arms, no way for him to get out of their grip. Grek looked down on the girl one last time.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, before thrusting the knife.

* * *

"Five given." Not Milotic whispered. She was currently floating in-between the worlds, waiting for her two contacts to appear. Around her, in a half circle, were five lights chained together by silver wire. "Now, five souls taken, then the Ten Emotions will occur, the Grand Awakening shall begin."

"The Grand Awakening!" The voice of her first contact rang out, "Is that what you're calling it?" Not Qwillfish floated into view, a smile on its face.

"It's a fitting name" Not Milotic said, "The awakening of the sleeping rage that exists in pokemon, the awakening of the new world order."

"I think it's a stupid name myself." The second voice said. Mew appeared before Not Milotic, expression blank. "Then again, I'm not here to judge."

"No, you're not." Not Milotic said. "You'd be good to remember whose in charge here. As long as I have these five beauties, I'm the one that you need to listen to."

"From where I'm standing, the decks only half full. Shouldn't it be a full circle?" Mew asked. "With only five souls, you're no more special then us. You're just a former Titan with half a glowy necklace."

"She's right." Not Qwillfish said.

"Silence!" Not Milotic thundered. "Qwillfish Titan, how is your assignment going? From what I've been told, when the meeting with them and the Legendaries occurred, you displayed anxiety. Why not just tell them you're guilty?"

"I'm not going to let my anxiety get the better of me anymore." Not Qwillfish replied. "As for my assignment, it is going well. I've found Titans who don't believe in an alliance with the Legendaries, I've begun talking to them. Currently, the Supreme wishes to use Arceus and Mew to help protect Angela Duncan, along with that Meowth fool."

"As for me," Mew said, "I also am opposing the alliance with the Titans. Griatina I believe suspects me of no longer siding with the Legendaries, not that it matters, I've never sided with them."

"You haven't?" Not Qwillfish asked.

"I'm on my own side." Mew replied. "Few of the Legendaries are listening to me, though I am distracting some of them from their duties. It's not much, but it's something. I'm going to try to push the idea of Arceus compromising our role as Legendaries to placate the Titans, say that he wants to share with them some of our secrets. That will get some on my side I believe."

"If both of you can succeed, we'll have two civil wars occurring at once." Not Milotic said with a grin. "While they're fighting among themselves or each other, I can gain my next five souls, and finish my steps to becoming a god. All that stand in my way are five souls, and the powers of the future Supreme Titan." She smiled. "The two of you will sit at my right and left side. The new leaders of the Titans and the Legendaries, you will watch over the new world order. It will be glorious!"

"I can not wait for that day!" Not Qwillfish said, with enthusiasm.

"Neither can I." Mumbled Mew.

"We will meet again soon. For now, continue with your assignments. Dismissed." With that, the three parted.


	31. Distant Voices And Shadows

**AN: **Part of my attempts to do different chapters. Here is something no one will expect I hope.

**XXXI: Distant Voices And Shadows **

**Desiree**

_Warm, itchy, something is covering me. I feel like I'm being smothered, but at least it's soft. I can be smothered soft I guess._

"Desiree? Desiree, wake up."

_Voices? I swear I've heard it somewhere, but I don't recognize it. I don't really care, but I probably should answer, it's rude not too._

"Yes, you moved your arm, I know you're awake."

_I moved my arm? Hey, I did! Yay! I deserve a gold star!_

I yawned, using most of my energy just moving my mouth. My entire mouth felt like it was full of cotton, my jaw was numb. I cracked my eyes open, and shut them due to the bright light. Smiling, I pushed myself up and opened my eyes again.

"What in the-world?" I found myself in a large room, one that I couldn't have constructed in my mind if I tried to. The room was white and gold, golden carpet and curtains blocking some light from giant windows. My bed was huge, red and orange (my favorite colors), all silk. Fluffy pillows, silk. One pillow was blue and yellow, in the shape of a Chinchou. On the edge of the bed was a man, early twenties, with blue hair and eyes.

"W-Who are you?" The mans face filled with sorrow.

"The doctors warned me this could happen." He mumbled.

"Doctors, what are you talking about?" I asked. "Where is Charlotte, where are the others?"

"I should have listened to them. They said that the Toxic could cause a temporary amnesia. Doesn't matter, I can wait for it to all come back." By now I had kicked the covers off, and was trying to crawl off the huge bed. "I wouldn't do that, your strength might not be back yet..."

I got one leg down, and stumbled onto my knees. The man rushed over, and grabbed my left arm. "Carefull-carefull." He whispered, pulling me up.

"Thanks." I whispered. "I may not know who you are, but their is no reason to be impolite."

"Now that's the Desiree I know and love." He said. He helped me to a chair across from my bed, allowing me to sit down. "Are you thirsty, hungry, I mean you've been asleep so long"

"Asleep?" I interrupted. "What do you mean asleep? Who are you?" The man smiled softly.

"I'm Iggy Brummagem." He said to me. "You're Desiree DuPont. Now, what was the last thing you remember?" I paused a moment, thinking about it.

"We were on the path to Azalea Town." I said, "No, we had just arrived. Me, Charlotte, Michael, Angela, the creepy guy, and all of our pokemon. Iggy-my Chinchou, not human, not you. He was with me, on my head. It was Saturday, and Angela wanted to hit the gym, except the Gym was closed. We found a hotel, a real crap bag, which is becoming a common theme in my life come to think about it.

"I was about to begin a new painting of Iggy, riding on a Scyther trying to save the world. I was actually getting somewhere, I wasn't going to destroy this canvas before I was done. The others made me go to sleep, so I did...and I woke up here!" The man, Iggy, sighed.

"Desiree, none of that actually happened." He said to me. "I know this is going to be hard for you to hear, but you were attacked by a Haunter. He used Toxic on you, you were poisoned. Th-The doctors said you were hallucinating"

"No"

"I gave you the injections they said to give you every day. Finally, when the injections stopped, all I could do is wait"

"Shut up."

"Then today when you woke up, I knew that you didn't remember me, they said that could happen. I don't care, I mean you're awake! I'm just so happy that"

"SHUT UP!" I shouted, pushing myself up. Iggy grabbed me, holding me still. I tried pushing him off, but I felt so weak. I couldn't get him off, instead I sank into him. "A delusion? My life isn't a delusion!"

"Your life isn't, but what you remembered was." He whispered to me. "Shh, it's alright."

"What proof do you have?" I asked, blinking away tears. "Can you prove your insane claim?"

"Yes, easily. We're in your penthouse, at the top of the Four Arms building in Azalea Town. You bought this from the money from your paintings."

"M-My paintings?" I asked.

"You're Desiree DuPont, the most desired artist in Johto. Hell, you actually had a gallery show scheduled tonight, but of course you got sick, so I had your assistant go in your place. A wormy little guy, Todd I think his name was."

"Todd, paintings? I don't know what you're talking about, none of this makes sense to me! You're right, I could have been attacked by a haunter, and you could be the delusion!" Iggy took my right hand, and ran it across his face.

"Feel this?" He asked.

"Yeah, so what?"

"This is real." Iggy said. "You can't claim that it's a delusion, it's real, you can feel it! Do you remember those things from your other life?"

"Yes! I can remember the air on my skin when I walked down the path with the others, and the taste of the food I ate when I sat down with them. I can remember..." Except I couldn't. I could remember the feel of my brush in my hand, but not Iggy's body when I touched it. The smell of paints, not of the forest. Even traveling with Charlotte and the others was feeling...faint. Like a dream I had just awakened from.

"You're troubled." Iggy said with a soft smile. "Come with me." He took my hand, and lead me towards the door of my room.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He lead me out, through a hallway and into a large gallery room. All along the floor were tarps, spattered with paint. Along the ceiling ran two track lights, turned on, and flooding the room. In the center was a chair and an easel, with a finished painting displayed. "You had finished this one prior to being poisoned."

The painting was of a girl, slightly chubby, long black hair and blue eyes. On her shoulder was an Umbreon, it's golden eyes staring at me.

"You called it"

"The Duncan Girl." I whispered. Iggy smiled.

"That's correct. The Duncan Girl. I loved it, but then again I loved all of your work. It's got a certain life to it."

"It certainly does." I said, touching the painting. "Iggy, how did we meet?"

"On the beach." Iggy said. "You were painting, what a shock, and I accidentally walked in the way. You threw a container of blue paint at me, splattered it all over my head. When I complained, you said I looked better in blue. Heck, you convinced me to dye it blue!"

"I remember." I said. I didn't, but the smile that lit up Iggy's face made me feel good. "You-How long have we been together?"

"Almost fourteen months." Iggy said. The same amount of time I had been traveling with Charlotte. In addition, I remembered catching Iggy the Chinchou on a beach. Except only vaguely, like a distant dream.

If this was real, a big if, I needed more proof. This studio was nice and human Iggy was...I felt calm around him. It wasn't enough though.

"I'm having a gallery showing?" I asked.

"I told you, I got Todd to take care of it." Iggy replied. "You need more rest, you've only just recovered."

"Only recovered my foot." I said. "I need to go do this, just-maybe it can help bring some of my memory back. I mean, I'd be surrounded by my own paintings, paintings I can't even remember painting!"

"Are you sure?" Iggy asked. I opened my mouth, but couldn't say a thing. My head suddenly was slammed by a pounding headache.

_Can't let him see. Don't want him to worry._

"Yes." I said, the headache dying. "I'm fine, I want to do this. Besides, wouldn't you want to spend a night out with a beautiful lady like me?" Iggy smiled.

"Alright, yes I do. But you might want to hurry, it starts soon."

"It does, what kind of" Their was a window in my studio I hadn't noticed till now. The sun was starting to set over the horizon. "Oh, I guess you're right. I'll go get ready."

"That's my girl." Iggy said. He left my studio, and I prepared to follow him. Instead, I went back over to the painting.

"Their is no emotion." I mumbled. People look at me like I'm crazy when I talk about the emotions of fruit, or the song of the stars, but I'm not. I feel emotions in color, and when I see things I can hear a song to go with it. For me, a painting isn't a picture, it's an experience. When people look at it they should feel my presence, bleeding through the canvas! Except, this painting had no emotion. It said not a word to me, it was silent to the bone.

I left my studio, ending up in my bedroom and walk in closet. It was full of clothing, bright clothing, all neon colors which screamed at all people who walked by. Except, it was all thin.

"Can I wear this?" I asked, pulling down a dress of orange, red, blue, and yellow, all neon. Somehow I managed to pull it on, with next to no effort. It fit perfectly, molding to the shape of my body. Their were even tennis shoes in the same color which I pulled on. Like heck was I going to wear anything with heels, or anything built for freaks with one toe.

"I see you're ready." Iggy said, wearing a three piece blue and yellow striped suit. His smile made me feel warm inside. Linking arms, we headed out of my penthouse, into Azalea Town.

Azalea town was how I remembered, over run with plant life and insect types. The streets were empty, was we walked through the city, the sun setting. We approached a small, brick building, cars parked all around. As I approached it, I caught something from the corner of my eye.

"No." Angela, at the end of the street. She was staring at me. I froze in mid-step. "Do you see that?"

"See what?" Iggy asked. "Oh, they warned me this could happen."

"What could happen?" I asked.

"The toxin might cause temporary delusions. They'll vanish in a few days, but for now, people you saw in your mind may pop up from time to time."

"Uh, yeah." I mumbled. Angela looked concerned, and her tattoo was red. She didn't move towards me though.

Iggy and I entered the two story building, me trying to remove the picture from my mind. As we moved up the stairs, I could hear people talking, rustling about. We entered, and all eyes were on us.

"Greetings all people." Iggy said, "I'd like to present the lady of the hour, our fine painter, Ms. Desiree DuPont!" Everyone turned to me, and began to applaud. I smiled, I couldn't help it.

"They're all looking at you." Iggy whispered to me. "They're admiring you, you're who they want to be! Not a freak to be laughed at, here, you're normal."

"I know." I replied. "Thank you everyone, thank you for your applause. I-I'm so happy!" I began to cry. Iggy placed his arm around me.

"It's been a long day." Iggy said. "I'm going to just take her over here, feel free to mull about." He moved me slowly, allowing me to look at my paintings as we went. I saw a painting of a Chinchou, of a half human-half Zangoose, of a group of pokemon I could barely identify. My eyes snapped shut, as another head ache hit me.

Iggy brought me to a table near the window to sit down. I continued wincing in pain, trying to ignore it.

"A head ache?"

"Yeah, it'll pass." I said. Slowly, it began to dissipate. "I guess it's another effect of the Toxic."

"Probably." Iggy said to me. "I'll go get you something to drink." As he left me, I looked out the window. By now, the sun had set and the stars lit up the night sky. Across the street, under a lamp, stood Angela.

"Go away." I mumbled, clenching my eyes shut. "I don't want you here, go away!" I opened them again, and Angela was gone. "Thank goodness."

"Here you go." Iggy said, handing me a flute of fruit juice. No alcohol, personal conviction of mine to never drink it. He also handed me a small plate of food, with a knife and fork. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I think I am." I said with a smile. "I mean, I feel good. Really good, for the first time in a while. How much do you think we'll get for these paintings?"

"Knowing you? A good deal." Iggy said with a smile.

"I want to be able to revel each person who buys a painting." I said. "They're like children to me, and I won't sell them to someone who doesn't appreciate them."

"That's fair." Iggy said.

"I'm glad you think so, most people"

"Desiree!" A firm voice yelled. I turned, to see Angela, slowly coming towards you. I stood up.

"No-not again." I whispered.

"Desiree, what's wrong?" Iggy asked.

"Desiree, don't be frightened." Angela said. "I don't know what you've been told, but it's all a lie."

"S-stay away you delusion!" I snapped.

"Delusion?" Angela asked. "What do you think happened to you?"

"I know the truth." I said. "You're just an effect of the Haunters Toxic. I'm fine, you-you're nothing!"

"That's it Desiree." Iggy said. "You tell that delusion whose boss."

"I'm not a delusion." Angela said. "You were attacked by a Haunter, I guess they told you that much truth. You were attacked while you were asleep, in our hotel room. We had just arrived in Azalea Town. It was late, hell I was only awake because I had to take a piss. When I was walking back to my bed, I saw a Haunter floating over you. I sent Darheel after it, but it was to late. It was using Dream Eater on you, not Toxic."

"Dream Eater?" I asked.

"Even with the Haunter gone, the Dream Eater has your minds linked." Angela said. "Unlike Pokemon, using Dream Eater on humans doesn't just end. My pokedex said that you'll remain in the dream until your mind and the Haunters are separated, or until one of you dies. You see, your mind is creating this dream, and the Haunter is eating it, and slowly killing you. Have you been suffering from head aches?"

"I-you would know that anyways! You're a product of my mind."

"Desiree, what is the delusion telling you?" Iggy asked. "Fight it, you're stronger then that."

"We've tried everything to wake you up." Angela said. "We've thrown water on you, slapped you, burned you with a cigarette, but couldn't break the connection. Michael and Charlotte are probably calling a doctor now, but I decided I couldn't wait."

"If all you're saying is true" I said, "Then how are you in my mind? Or my dream, or what ever this is."

"I'll explain later." Angela said. "You have to trust me now though Desiree."

"Desiree!" Iggy snapped. "You're still talking to that delusion."

"Well, I mean that, er uh"

"Just decide, who do you want to listen to, her or me?" Iggy asked. "Do you want to be a freak in a group of people who don't appreciate you? Or do you want to be a successful artist? Someone who brings beauty to the world, who people love?" As if on cue, all the people started clapping again. I hardly noticed though.

"You said it was a she." I whispered.

"So what?" Iggy asked.

"I never once said that my 'delusion' was a she." I whispered. Before he could respond, I grabbed the knife I had, and stabbed Iggy. Or rather, I stabbed through Iggy. He grinned.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." With a laugh, Iggy employed, for lack of a better word. Purple smoke coated him, and he transformed into a Haunter. "You were such an easy target, very juicy."

"Desiree, drop!" Angela shouted, tossing a pokeball into the air. All of a sudden, Angela was coated in a green suit of armor, shaped like a Scyther. I did as she said, and dropped to my bottom. Angela lunged, and struck the Haunter with both blades, driving him into a wall.

I could hear the two of them fighting, but I hardly noticed. I moved through my gallery, now empty, pausing to look at the paintings.

"This was my world."

"GAAAHHHH" Haunter-Iggy shouted.

"For a little while, I was a success. Now it's gone, all gone again. I'm a failure, a loser who everyone looks at like a freak." I shook my head. "No, I'm not. I'll create my master piece, and show everyone the emotions of color! Of texture and of sound! By the Goddess I swear it."

"Desiree?" I turned, to see Angela holding a bruised(?) Haunter on the edge of its claw. "I'm done with him. The link should be breaking" Iggy-Haunter vanished, and the building began shaking, "Right about now.".

"I assume I have to wake up?"

"It's for the best." Angela walked over, smiling. "You did great by the way. You fought him, you figured out what was real, and what wasn't."

"Thanks Angela." I said with a smile. "It did seem real though."

"Dreams usually do. Or what ever this is." She said to me. "I'll see you on the other side. Angela vanished in a red burst, leaving me alone in a shaking building.

"I may not know her that well" I said, "But she does seem nice. A bit more normal then I'm used to, but nice." I sighed, closed my eyes, and prepared to wake up in reality.

**AN: **Do not reveal what happens in the reviews. I ask this politely. As for why their are no breaks, or why some things don't make sense, well it's a delusion. Do yours make sense?


	32. City Of Bugs

**XXXII: City Of Bugs**

I don't like Azalea town very much. It's swampy, over run with insect-types, and in general is a lousy place to be. The day we finally arrived didn't help either. The day before it had rained, all day, and had virtually stopped our movement. The next day made up for it by reaching record highs (which would have been record lows in Hoenn), and turning all that water into humidity. By noon it was like walking in a steam bath.

That evening it wasn't much better. When I got up to take a piss, my shirt was pasted to my body, and I had to keep fanning it loose. When I got back, I noticed a Haunter hovering over Desiree, sucking purple energy out of her. I chased off the Haunter, woke the others up, and we attempted to wake the others up.

Finally, with all other options exhausted, I used my mind power tattoo to enter Desiree's brain and knocked the Haunter out. Unfortunately, that meant it was time to tell the others.

"Gah!" Me and Desiree shouted in unison as we regained consciousness. Michael grabbed me before I hit the ground, while Charlotte and Virgil comforted Desiree.

"Okay, what happened?" Michael asked me. Desiree was crying into Virgil's chest, while he held her. Oddly, Virgil didn't look uncomfortable.

"Uh, remember that tattoo?" I asked Michael.

"Yes, you said you'd tell me eventually."

"Well, it's now eventually. This tattoo was given to me by the Titans, uh they're a race of interdemensional reality jumping pokemon who are like demigods and frequently force me to do things for them. In this case, they gave me a tattoo that lets me enter people's minds and fuck around. I used it to enter your dreams a few days ago!"

"That's why you slammed Gabriel on my dick? Because of a dream!"

"A dirty dream! Don't do that any more. Anyways, Desiree is attacked by the Haunter, I leap into her brain and try to save her. I figured it would take to long to do anything else, Desiree could end up brain dead." Now everyone was looking at me. "I saved your life! You can at least say thank you."

"Thanks Angela." Desiree said, wiping her eyes and pushing Virgil off. "My head really hurts, I think I'll go sleep now." As soon as she spoke, Desiree collapsed. Charlotte covered her back up again.

"Why did they give you these abilities?" Virgil asked. "Are using them dangerous?"

"A little." I admitted to him and Michael. "Why do you care?

"My job is to protect you from any and all danger that may befall you." Virgil repplied. "If there is even the slightest possibility you could be in danger, my job is to neutralize a potential threat."

"I'll help him." Michael said. "If you could be in danger Angela, you have to let us know. Why not tell the Titans to go screw themselves?"

"Believe me, I've tried." I said. "It doesn't matter, they won't leave me alone." I yawned, and walked back to my bed. Anna and Saya were on my pillow, I let them have it. "Going to bed, night."

* * *

When I woke up, sunlight was pouring through the curtains. Everyone else was asleep, or at least those I could see were asleep. Charlotte was missing though.

I carefully maneuvered myself out of bed without waking Michael up. Anna peeked her head up.

"I'm just heading out for a bit." I whispered to her.

"Coming with you." Anna mumbled, pushing herself up. I scooped her up and perched her on my shoulder. Anna almost immediately fell asleep, still sitting up. Cute.

I made if out of the room without waking anyone else up, thank goodness. I stopped to make sure Desiree was asleep and breathing. Oddly, Virgil was beside her, asleep standing up.

Azalea Town is a bizarre looking town. It's green, and by that I mean most of the buildings are over run with plant life. The streets are lined with trees, hell they don't have sidewalks and instead have grass. Why all of these plants? Simple, insect-types love plant life.

I personally hate Azalea town because it's…muggy. The entire town feels like a swamp, humid every day. From the moment I walked out I could feel sweat role down my back, soaking me.

I found Charlotte down the street a little. She was staring at a tree, and holding five pokeballs in one hand. She saw me, and sighed.

"What?"

"I woke up, you weren't in the room, I was curious." I said. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to catch a Heracross. There are five open requests for one. We're in desperate need of money, since someone spent all of ours!"

"I bought three alarm clocks designed to go off the exact moment when Isshu became a region." I protested. "Not my fault I left them behind."

"YES IT WAS!" Charlotte shouted. "Anyways, I need a Heracross, or tonight we're sleeping in an ally and living in a dumpster. Don't worry, we'll cut up your body and burn it for warmth."

"Good to know." I said. "Heracross are hard to capture, and you don't even have a pokemon to weaken it."

"Never stopped Crystal, and she's caught over five hundred different pokemon." Charlotte said. "It sure as hell isn't going to stop me. Hell, I've put up with your complaints about what I do, capturing a pokemon without fighting it should be easy!"

"I'm not that bad." I mumbled.

"You're insufferable." Charlotte replied, before tossing a pokeball into the tree. The pokeball then shot back with almost rocket force, slamming into Charlotte's face, between her eyes.

"Is that the tree the Heracross is in?" I asked.

"Nope! It's just a tree that really hates pokeballs! Of course it is you nitwit, help me get the damn bug down." Charlotte started to shake the tree. "You can talk to pokemon, talk this one down."

"Charlotte, you can talk to them to. You talk them down, I'll watch and make snarky comments."

"I'll snarky you." Charlotte mumbled. I walked over beside Charlotte, no way in hell I'm going to miss this. Plus, snarky me? What the hell do you think that means my dear listener?

A Heracross was climbing on the branches of the tree, nibbling on the leaves. It looked down at both Charlotte and I.

"Sup." He said.

"We're broke, you're a pokemon, I'm going to sell you." Charlotte said. "Get in this pokeball." She tossed it, the Heracross opened its mouth and ate it. Wonderful.

"Nah." The Heracross said. "Don't wont to be sold. Eating." He then bit back into the leaves. "Want some?"

"No! Do I look like I eat leaves!"

"I figured humans ate rocks and leaves. You don't?"

"No! Look, stop talking, get in this pokeball!" Charlotte tossed the ball again, and the Heracross sent it back at sonic speed. This time, it struck me between the eyes.

"Owe! Damn it, do I look like Charlotte?" I asked.

"Wow, you're real!" The Heracross gasped. "Awesome. Back to eating." He slammed the tree with his horn for some reason, and bit on it. Charlotte sighed.

"Use Anna to get him down, I can't catch him." Charlotte ordered. "If you don't, we have to eat cat food tonight!"

"I'm not sending Anna up there to fight a giant bug. You're the great pokemon catcher, you climb up the tree and fight him. Besides, you could use a good ass kicking."

"Why on earth would I deserve that?" Charlotte asked. "I'm wonderful to you, I agreed to come with you on this journey."

"You were forced to come on this journey because no one was willing to take you." I said sarcastically. "The entire time, you've complained the whole way."

"So have you!" Charlotte snapped. "You complain about what I do, yet you still spend the money I bring in. Then you got mind powers and waited until entering Desiree's brain and fucking around before telling us. Have you ever used those powers on me before?"

"No, you were in a different tent then me."

"The only reason you didn't mind rape me was because I was in a different tent?" Charlotte moaned. "Somehow, I'm not surprised, not even in the slightest. You have no idea what boundaries are!"

"You're right, I don't, but how dare you call me out on keeping one secret! You've got plenty of things you don't tell us." I said. "For fucks sake, I don't even know your full name!"

"My name is Charlotte…Story Lamont." She said. "As for the rest of my life, it's none of your business."

"Well my full name is, wait Story?" I asked. "Your middle name is Story?"

"My parents thought it would be a good name for me." Charlotte growled. "MY brothers full name is Thomas Poem Lamont."

"You have a brother?" I asked.

"None of your business. Do you have one?"

"If I did, I would tell you." I said. "You know what's weird? Michael said he's surprised we're not friends with each other."

"That's because we despise each other." Charlotte said. "Why are you dating Michael? He's a moron who never shuts up about bad movies, being in charge of our group, or how awesome you are. He never calls you on any of your dick headed behavior!"

"Michael's great, and I've toned down on my dick headed behavior." I said.

"Do you two do this all of the time?" The Heracross asked, hanging down from the tree, looking at us. "Cuz frankly, you two are some funny shit. I mean, I've never seen two humans argue over nothing, just for the sake of arguing!"

"Just get in the damn ball!" Charlotte shouted, tossing a pokeball. The Heracross grabbed it in his mouth, and spit it out, slamming into Charlotte's eye. She screamed, grabbing her eye, and swung her fist at the Heracross. Instead, she hit a tree, screaming again.

By now, a small crowd of people had come to watch us. If I had the slightest bit of dignity, I would have been embarrassed. As we've established though, I have no dignity.

"This is your fault!" Charlotte yelled. "All you had to do was knock that Heracross out of the tree, but no. That would be too easy, instead make me suffer by causing a bug to kick my ass."

"It's against my principals to participate in the capture of a pokemon for money." I said.

"There, in one sentence why we would never be friends. I just want to catch pokemon, you want to pass hypocritical judgment on me. You fight with me because you don't agree with me, you're a dick." Charlotte growled. "Besides, It's not about money anymore, now it's about revenge! I just want this damn bug caught."

Charlotte grabbed the Heracross, who barely noticed her and held onto the tree. She pulled, and nothing happened. Instead, Charlotte fell onto her ass, the Heracross laughing at her. Charlotte just lay there, eye's clenched shut.

"What's your name insect?" I asked the Heracross.

"Quintcel." He replied. "Your friend, she's kind of nuts, isn't she?"  
"It comes with the territory." I said. "So, you really don't want to come with us."

"No, it's not that. Actually, I kind of have to." He said to me.

"You have to? Why on earth would you have to be sold?"

"Not sold." Quintcel said to me. "Captured. Charlotte is supposed to capture me, I'm under orders…from someone. Is she listening?" I looked down at Charlotte, who was silently sobbing.

"Nah, she's not listening. So, who said Charlotte has to catch you?"

"Uh, I'm not allowed to tell you. Truth be told, I don't know why myself. But Charlotte has to capture me, or else the evilness will win!" I'm decided not to ask what the heck he was talking about.

"Alright, I'll talk to Charlotte, I think I can get you caught." I said. I sat down beside the miserable capture specialist, who had at this point in time caught one pokemon for us. Specialist my foot. "Charlotte, I'll use Anna." She instantly stopped crying.

"Y-You will?"

"However" I began, "Not if you sell the Heracross. You have to keep him, raise him, and train him."

"Are you crazy? I can't raise a pokemon, and we'll be broke!" Charlotte said. "I will eat you, believe me if we're short on food, you're on the menu!"

"We won't end up short." I said, "I've earned enough from battling other trainers to sustain us until our next town."

"But I know nothing about training pokemon!" Charlotte said.

"Then let Quintcel go, oh that's his name. If you let him go, you'll just have to live with being unable to catch him." Charlotte sighed.

"Catch him." She mumbled. I tapped on Anna, waking her up.  
"Wha? Whooza-wuza?"

"Knock out that Heracross." I said.

"Can do." Anna yawned, and leapt off at the Heracross, one fist raised. The Heracross caught her in two clawed hands, and Anna responded by hitting him under the chin with her tail. The two spiraled out of the tree, and Quintcel landed with his horn stuck in the grass.

"That's how you catch pokemon." I said. Having said pokemon want to be caught probably also helps.

Charlotte tossed a pokeball, consuming Quintcel. It shook twice, then clicked, Charlotte picked it up, staring intensely at it.

"I will train the Heracross, I won't go back on my word." Charlotte said.

"Good, then maybe-" I began.

"I wasn't finished." Charlotte said. "I earn money not just to finance our journey, I have other expenses. Let me tell you this right now, if you ever again get in my way of earning money, of selling a pokemon…I'll cut off your fucking face. I've had enough of your self-righteous bullshit. You don't like what I do, fine. Don't keep telling me what I do is wrong. Don't talk to me anymore Angela. I don't want to be your friend, I don't want to travel with you, leave me alone." With that Charlotte headed back to the hotel.

"Is Charlotte mad at us?" Anna asked.

"Not you kiddo," I said, "Just me."

Charlotte and I didn't talk much for a few weeks after that, but more on that later.


	33. The Ambiguously Gendered Gym Leader

**XXXIII: The Ambiguously Gendered Gym Leader**

Bugsy is a freak. A vaguely male, vaguely female freak who has a stupid hair cut and tosses pokeballs out with nets. Your grandfather, were he still alive, would tell you I had a fear of Bugsy. That's not true, I just didn't want its shemale hands touching me. Just the thought of it gives me the willies.

Anyways, pokemon to use against Bugsy! Fire-Types work best, though I wouldn't trust Torchic or that stupid fire pig from Isshu to attack any type pokemon without fucking it up. Cyndaquil, the fire-type of this region, should have evolved by now, actually all of them should be.

Water-Types are not going to do anything positive or negative in this battle, though with Ice-Beam they can be of some assistance. Other wise, they won't have an advantage or a disadvantage. Use them.

Grass-Types can't get a break in Johto. Name one type they're good against in the Johto gym league. When you figure it out, please tell me, I'd love to know. Grass-types are at a massive disadvantage, and should only be used by people who love a challenge, or who are insane.

I figured I was probably one or the other.

"So, you got a Heracross named Quintcel for Charlotte." Michael said, "She responded by saying she would cut your head off. You had a busy morning."

"More then you can imagine." I said, writing down strategies. "Right now, my best chance to win is Saya, or having a bus covered with pictures of oranges crash through the gym and kill Bugsy."

"I assume the orange bus is plan B?" Michael asked.

"Given my line up, it's becoming plan A." I mumbled. "Bugsy is not difficult, but I'm once again in a Faulkner situation, no advantages and one disadvantage. At least, Bugsy isn't very good."

"He has one of the only insect type gyms on earth. Of course he's not going to be difficult."

Across the room, Quintcel was talking to the worthless rejects, who seemed confused by his presence.

"So, you're here for a reason, except you don't remember what" Trish said, "Sent by someone who you can't tell us, because you don't remember, and you are currently devouring a pillow." Quintcel pulled the pillow he was eating out of his mouth.

"Pretty much." He said. "I remember I had to be caught by Charlotte for some reason…hope it was the right Charlotte." Quintcel then went back to devouring the pillow.

"I who is Pecha wants to know why I have never been selected for the secret of missions!" Pecha ranted. "I am deserving of the missions, is Pecha who is I not intelligent? Is I who is me not worthy? Is I not important enough to be used for a greater purpose? I are important!" Very inspiring. Grammatically incorrect, but inspiring none the less.

"Pecha, you're a loud mouthed little psychopath," Trish said, "and if the good die young, I suspect you might just be immortal. That's why no one will would select you for a mission." Pecha opened her mouth, but before she could respond, someone else did.

"Don't say that about Pecha!" Rush said. "Pecha is nice, sweet, and would never do anything bad." Primarily because she's to stupid to do anything bad. "Now I think you should say you're sorry."

"Rush, I"

"Say it!"

"Uh, sorry Pecha." Trish mumbled. Pecha's jaw hung open, and she didn't say a word.

"Yay! Now we're all friends!" Rush chirped happily. No one bothered to point out that they weren't friends yet.

"Do they always fight like this?" Quintcel asked Streak.

"As the tide roles in, so to do they fight." Streak replied. Quintcel nodded then went back to eating his pillow.

* * *

The night passed quickly, too quickly for me. Not that I was afraid of fighting Bugsy, truth be told his gym was almost an afterthought. Among gym leaders, Bugsy was a joke due to training Insect-types and one other thing…

"Is Bugsy a boy or girl?" I asked. We were standing outside of his gym, looking at the glass double doors. "Seriously, long violet hair, feminine face and ambiguous features, high pitched voice, what?

"I think it's best not to ask." Michael said. We walked into the gym, cold air rushing over us. Saya and Darheel were in their balls; Anna was on my shoulder

"Nervous?" I asked her.

"No, but I want to go first." Anna said. "If I'm the weakest, I want to go first."

"You're not the weakest Anna." I said with a smile, "You're"

"DROP!" The receptionist in the lobby yelled. We all hit the ground as a Beedrill swooped over us, only to be met by the receptionist wielding a flame-thrower. She toasted it enough to knock it out. "Sorry, Bugsy had the brilliant idea of installing a Beedrill hive. If you're here to see him, take the left door."

I waved at the others and stepped over the flaming Beedrill. The gym was like the rest of the town, it had a floor made of grass with lines spray painted and benches set up. The benches had nets in front of them, the others sitting down behind them.

Bugsy was on the other side, and dear lord, what was Bugsy? Bugsy was wearing a freaking scarf! What gender is Bugsy!

"I am Bugsy!" Bugsy said, "Undisputed master of Insect-Types" Except for that guy in Isshu. "You may send out your first Pokemon, the battle will give me further research and understanding of all things pokemon!" Nope, voice not giving away the gender.

"I'm Angela Duncan, and I'm going to kick your he-she ass. Anna, go on out!" Anna leapt off of my shoulder doing a triple flip. Bugsy laughed.

"Come on out Metapod!" Metapod? Really? A Metapod appeared on the field, not moving, not even looking at Anna. Anna walked over and tapped on it. Metapod continued to stare. Anna slugged him in the eye, Metapod did nothing.

"Metapod, tackle!" Bugsy commanded. Bugsy suddenly lurched foreword, knocking Anna back a good two, maybe three inches. Anna responded by picking the Metapod up, flipping him 180 degrees, and setting him down again. She then began pounding on his head.

"String shot!" Bugsy ordered. Metapod valiantly stringed the area directly in front of him, not hitting Anna at all. Anna slammed it, but it wasn't knocked out. "Harden!" Metapod flashed for a moment, its defense raising ever so slightly. "Now what will you do."

"Anna, absorb." I said, yawning. Why on Earth had Bugsy sent out a Metapod? It couldn't do anything at all, except occasionally tackle. Anna slammed into the Metapod, knocking it foreword a little.

"Tackle backwards!" Bugsy yelled, waving a bug catching net for some reason. Man Bugsy had a feminine voice. Metapod moved at a speed reserved for blocks of cement trying to hit Anna. Anna slammed into the Metapod, finally bruising the damn thing. Still not knocked out though, of course.

"Harden!" Bugsy ordered. Another flash, and the Metapod's defense raised a little bit. Anna started pounding on its skull with both fists, absorbing as she did. She grabbed the back of its head, and head butted it as hard as she could. Anna then fell flat on her ass, grabbing her forehead.

"Okay, bad idea." She said. "I think I'm bleeding." Anna absorbed again, sucking little health from the Metapod.

"Harden!" Once again the Metapod flashed, by now its defense was as high as it could go. Anna leapt onto the Metapod's back and slammed both fists into its eyes. Even they had hardened, and Anna's attack did nothing. Screaming, Anna slammed her tail over and over into Metapod, finally cracking its shell a little.

"There you go Anna, attack the crack!" I shouted. Anna pounded over and over again, enlarging the crack, causing it to spread across its shell. Without warning, the Metapod's eyes closed, and it finally passed out.

"Very good Ms. Duncan." Mr./Ms. Bugsy said, withdrawing the Metapod. He/She loaded another ball into the bug catching net. "How will you deal with this great threat though?" A pokeball flew through the air, and a Kakuna appeared on the field.

You know, to become a gym leader, you have to have an extended pokemon battle without letting a single pokemon faint. I mean, at the same time I was battling Bugsy, they were selecting a new gym leader for Mahogany Town, and had been for six years. How the hell had Bugsy passed a test that no one had in six years?

Kakuna sat in front of Anna, not moving, since it was essentially a pod. How had this dipstick ended up as a gym leader? The only thing I could think of was he gave blow jobs to the heads of the Pokemon League.

"Poison sting." Bugsy ordered. Kakuna fired off a series of glowy purple needles, which Anna avoided through the clever strategy of moving out of the way. Anna walked behind the Kakuna, and picked it up.

"Can I just slam this thing into the ground?" She asked.

"Sure, slam away." I said. Anna smashed the Kakuna into the grass, pulling it up and tossing mud around. Kakuna attempted a string shot, and accidentally, stringed itself around Anna! Anna just used this to hammer the pod.

"Poison sting again!" Bugsy yelled. Anna, Kakuna tied to her, pointed the thing at Bugsy. A thousand poison needles flew at Bugsy, who screamed and leapt out of the way. Anna went back to hammering the Kakuna into the ground, until it passed out from about a thousand blows to the head.

"Alright, a very clever strategy Ms. Duncan." Bugsy said. Oh please, like he/she knew what a clever strategy was. "You will lose now though." Bugsy tossed out a third, and finally pokeball.

A Scyther appeared on the field, looking down at Anna.

"Crap." I mumbled. It looked down at Anna, light reflecting off of its blades. Anna backed up, but the Scyther slammed the side of its blade into Anna, knocking her sideways. Anna leapt back, and slammed into the Scyther's chest, bouncing off.

"X-Scissor!" Bugsy ordered. The Scyther's blades crossed over each other, as it zoomed at Anna. Anna leapt, hoping to avoid the Scyther's blades, but failing.

Anna was hit in the chest by both of the Scyther's blades, as they crossed across her body. Anna screamed, falling to the ground, a bloody X appearing on her. She stood back up, the Scyther appearing over her.

"Anna, pull back, get away from that thing!" I yelled. Anna took a step back, and stumbled.

"Fury cutter." Bugsy ordered. Anna was trapped, unable to escape as Scyther slashed her over one hundred times. She screamed, and then went silent, passing out.

I walked up and scooped up Anna's small body. I kissed her bloody body.

"You did great Anna." I whispered. I sat her down beside my bag, pulling out Darheel's body and a Potion.

"Darheel, you're up!" I said, tossing the ball and spraying Anna down. Darheel emerged on the field, blinking rapidly.

"I shall not disappoint you m'lady." He turned to the Scyther. "Hello fellow Insect-Type, are you also a human trapped in this bladed body?"

The Scyther head butted Darheel, who stumbled back, blood dribbling from a forehead wound. "I'll take that as a no!"

"X-Cutter!" I yelled.

"I don't know that attack!" Darheel responded. Oh yeah, how the heck did I forget that?

"Okay, Slash!" Darheel slashed at the Scyther, who zipped backwards avoiding the cut. The Scyther stopped, but Darheel had zipped at it, slamming his insect body into the Scyther. "Agility!" Darheel moved rapidly around Scyther, speed increasing. Bugsy ordered an Agility, and now the two Scyther had matched speed.

Scyther scraped Darheel across the face, and Darheel ducked down, swinging at its knees. He managed to hit one, drawing blood from the Scyther.

Darheel lunged backwards as Scyther swung down, accidentally lodging its blade into the ground. As it pulled the blade out, Darheel swooped foreword and kicked the other bug in the face. Scyther responded by slashing Darheel across the stomach, slightly cutting into him.

"Okay, that hurt." Darheel said.

"You should have stabbed it in the back of the skull!" I shouted.

"That would have badly injured the Scyther though, if not killed it." Darheel said. "I try not to use my blades."

A Scyther who tries not to use his blades. No matter how many times I repeated that, I couldn't believe it.

"Alright, if you're not cutting, you're not fighting." I said, pulling Darheel back. "Saya, you're up!"

"I'll cut off their heads and eat their still beating hearts!" Saya yelled, emerging on the field.

"Good to know." I said, "Uh, knock Scyther out first, then you can eat its heart." Saya nodded, and fired a water gun straight at the Scyther. Or rather, the image of Scyther that dissipated as the water struck.

Scyther appeared behind Saya, trying to slash her. Saya fired off a water gun, blasting herself out of the way. Scyther flew behind, slashing rapidly and tearing the grassy field apart.

"Ice Beam." I ordered. Saya fired it off, striking Scyther's arm and freezing it straight up.

"Double Team." Bugsy ordered. Several Scyther appeared around Saya in a circle. She tried to follow them all, when suddenly one Scyther burst foreword and struck her across the back. Saya was not knocked out of the circle, and looked more pissed then injured.

She fired off another ice beam, hitting nothing and ending up slashed yet again by the damn Scyther. Saya fired at the floor of the gym, icing it over. Scyther responded by hovering in a circle over the ice, what a shock.

"Okay, I've had enough." Saya said. She began to spin, which is weird because she had no legs, firing a water-gun the entire time. Scyther ran into the water-gun, which struck it in the chest like a metal bar. Scyther fell onto it's back, only to find Saya had iced both of its arms down.

Saya leapt onto its chest, muzzle contorted into an almost scowl, eyes full of rage.

"Now you die!" Saya shouted. She began to fire a water-gun straight into Scyther's chest, striking it at point blank range. Scyther's eye bulged out, as it tried to escape from the ice prison. Bruises appeared on its body, blood appeared from cuts.

Scyther shouted once, and passed out cold. Bugsy withdrew his/her final pokemon, and I had won.

Fuckin' A.

**AN: **Not much of a chapter, but then again I hate Bugsy.


	34. Bed Talk

**XXXIV: Bed Talk**

"I think there is a tone nail in my sandwich." I said, "Not sure, may have eaten it."

"As long as you can swallow it, ignore it." Michael said. It was later that day, after I had beaten Bugsy the lame. Right now, Michael and me were on a second quasi-date, in our hotel room. The others were out…somewhere, though all of our pokemon were here with me.

"I'm serious, the room service people put toenails in my sandwich." I said. I tossed my sandwich into the trash, and Michael quickly followed suite. "What is this movie we're watching?"

"Invasion Of the Neptune Men." Michael said, "They just blew up the Hitler building."

"Ah, kay." I snuggled up beside him, and he put his arm across my shoulders. "So, from here we head to Goldenrod. That's a long journey. I think it may be the longest."

"I've read a little about Whitney." Michael said. "She's supposed to be tough, but a bit of a crybaby."

"Why did you read up on her?" I asked. "I'm the one who has to battle her, not you."

"I know, but I figured if I could help you prepare in any way, I should." I couldn't help but smile at this.

"Is there anything you wanted out of this trip?" I asked.

"I already got what I wanted." Oh come on, he's not allowed to be that sweet. "If I had to ask for something, I wanted to see the Ruins of Alph. We walked past it without seeing it!"

"It's just a bunch of rocks." I said.

"It's history! A beautiful monument, a puzzle to explain the Unown. I'd love to see it." For a moment, his eyes had become scary happy.

"You know, before you mentioned the ruins, I never knew you had an interest in history." I said.

"It's a hobby." Michael said. "What about you, do you have any?" I smiled.

"Promise you wont laugh."

"Oh, I promise."  
"Alright. My hobby is dancing, more specifically ballroom dancing." Michael burst out laughing, and I punched him in the arm. "Sylvia Drunken forced me to do something 'that girls do', and I had to choose between that and gymnastics. I chose dance because it was only something I had to do once a week, while gymnastics I had to do twice a week. When I started, I realized despite how fruity it was, I enjoyed it. That's weird, because I've got all the coordination of a drunken Miltank."

"I'd love to dance with you." Michael said. "Seriously though, ballroom dancing? I mean, of all the things that describe you, that definitely isn't one of them."

"I know, but if there is one thing I learned as an Umbreon, it's that people are full of surprises. Also, pokemon can be full of surprises, or the occasional human soul. Or a tragic back story come to think of it, I swear their has to be a reason everyone I knew had a tragic story."

"Angela, what was it like?" Michael asked. "When you were born again as an Eevee? The thought terrifies me."

"It really shouldn't." I said. "Being born is actually the easy part of all of it. When you're in an egg, you're warm, and you're not breathing but you don't need to. I still don't understand that. Then the egg shell cracks, now that part really does suck. It's cold then, and you can't move because your body is made of taffy."

"I know how you hate being cold." Michael said, "That must have been misery for you."

"Oh, you have no idea. I hated those first couple of weeks, being fed from a bottle definitely didn't help things. Even when I could eat, I had to eat pokemon food, and it was bitter!"

"They said you had a personality that would like bitter food Angel!" Michael said.

"Who the hell thinks that bitter is a good flavor? I mean seriously? I've never met a pokemon who likes bitter, and Sharon's favorite flavor was shoe! Oddly, that never seemed weird to me."

"I wish I could have known them like you did." Michael said. "You got to know everyone on our team so well, you traveled with them, you ate with them. For me, well it was personal, but only in the way trainer and pokemon can be."

"I wish you could understand pokemon." I said. "It is amazing, I'm not going to lie. Maybe someday, you'll be able to."

"Maybe." Michael looked over to the other bed in the room. Most of our pokemon (except Darheel) were on it, asleep. Darheel was asleep standing up, like a creepy golem. "Gabriel is my newest pokemon, but I don't know him. Aside from what you've told me."

"Well, he's a bit of a dope." I said, "I thought his hitting on Anna was creepy at first, but he's to much of a dope to get anywhere."

"Huh? You think my pokemon would have no chance with yours?"

"I mentioned Gabriel to Anna a few days ago, and her response was 'Who?'" Michael sighed.

"I wish I were still training pokemon." Michael said. "I really do, I miss it. Yet, if I started again, I know I'd also be unhappy. Why do you think that is?"

"Because you'd have to replace the old team." I said, frowning. "You'd have to construct a brand new one. That wouldn't be easy, or fun. If you did though, at least we'd be able to do it together."

"That's the other reason." Michael said, "I'd never want to battle against you."

"Afraid you'd loose?" I asked, grinning.

"Oh please, I'd beat seven shades of crap out of your team, but that's not the point. As much fun as I had doing it, I don't want to do it again. Still, in spite of those feelings, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything."

"I'm the same way." I said. "I hated being an Eevee/Umbreon when I was one. I hated Not Meowth's constant interference in my life. Yet, if I could change the past, I wouldn't, except to save a life."

"I wish I could do that." Michael said, "Save everyone, if I could. First, I'll have to capture Celebii though."

"We've got a Celebii shrine in the Ilex Forrest." I said, "You can try and catch one there." Actually something would happen at that shrine, but more on that later. "I wonder if there are many Celebii, or just one."

"Well, you've met most legendary, right?" Michael asked.

"Nope, just Mew." I said. "Cheerful, nice, obnoxious bonehead that is Mew. If I could unmeet Mew or the Titans"

"Titans?" Michael asked.

"Not Pokemon, Titan's are their real names. I really wish I could unmeet them, just because they wont leave me alone! I mean, they move my life in ways they want it to go even if it's against my wishes."

"Weird," Michael said, "I wonder why they never tried to manipulate you before you were reborn." I opened my mouth to respond…except I couldn't.

"Actually, that's a really good question." I said, "If I'm so important that the Titans have to keep messing with me, why did they allow me to kill myself. They said they can't directly interfere, but they could have indirectly done something! They didn't do anything though, in fact they allowed me to end up in dangerous situations."

"I dunno, maybe they had a reason." Michael said.

"I ended up dead twice. I could have decided not to be reborn, I could have chosen to die. I could have been killed a dozen times on the journey, like that night in the woods! I didn't die, though it wasn't because of them either."

"Okay, let me ask you this." Michael said, "What have they said is the reason that they keep involving themselves in your life?"

"They haven't! I've tried asking Not Meowth, and all I got was vague circle talk and no answers. Not Meowth hinted at a few things, like I had a purpose in all of this, but he wouldn't tell me what that purpose was."

"Alright, then how about you and me figure it out?" Michael said with a smile. "I figure between the two of us, we have one and a half brains, that should be enough." It's sad that Michael considered himself to have only half a brain.

"Okay, while I was an Umbreon" I began, "I made several friends, traveled across Hoenn, met my real mother" I felt a pang of sorrow thinking about Enfer, "and killed my bastard father. Then I got brought back to life because of Robin" Another pang, "And could understand pokemon. Even as a human, Not Meowth followed me and gave me freaky mind powers, and I was attacked by a pierced Peccavi who tried to melt my mind!"

"…Yes, that is all that happened." Michael said, "At least I think, was I there for half of that stuff?"

"Nope." I replied. "The thing was, most of those events are random, just coincidence. They can't be coincidence though, no ones life has that much coincidence in them, their was a motivation behind all those things, but what!"

"I dunno, to make you learn a lesson?"

"You don't introduce someone to the specter of death at every opportunity" I said, "On the grounds that they might learn a lesson. No, it's got to be something more then just a lesson." We both thought about it, then Michael snapped his fingers.

"I've got it. What if they've been preparing you to become a Not Titan Pokemon thing?"

"That's possible" I said, "Except, if that were the case, they could have done it when I died the second time, and they chose not to. They have to have something else in mind. Here's another question, how does everything I went through as an Eevee and an Umbreon tie into my mind powers?"

"I dunno, who says it has to tie in?" Michael asked. Stupid question.

"It has to tie in," I said, "The Titans have never done anything unless their was a purpose behind it. Their has to be a purpose to this to. I got attacked by someone in a yellow robe, who had those mind powers, channeled from Not Milotic."

"Not Milotic, what do you bet that all these things are related to her?" Michael asked. I laughed.

"No question, it's got to be related to her. Let's focus on Not Milotic for a minute, what do we know about her?"

"We know nothing." Michael replied, "You're the only one who knows anything about her, you're the only one whose ever met her! I've never set eyes on her, all I know is she's a Milotic who once made me a Grovyle."

"You were a very sexy Grovyle." I said, kissing him on the cheek. Michael smiled at this. "Well, Not Milotic hates me with an intense passion, and hates Not Meowth. She once worked with Tagger to kill me, once split our group into civil war, and even killed me in warehouse fire. I haven't seen her since then though, God knows why."

"Not Milotic can't just want to kill you." Michael said, "You said she has an intense hatred for you, but is their a reason?"

"Of course not, she just hates me!"

"She can't just hate you." Michael said. "Why would anyone with a cosmic perspective pick just one reborn at random to torment without reason? If all Titans have a purpose, then Not Milotic is no exception."

"What possible reason could Not Milotic have to hate me?" I asked. "What could she want from me? My training tips? My mind powers? Maybe it's my connection to the Titans, except what connection? They keep messing with me, that's no reason to try and kill me!"

"I dunno." Michael said, "Has anything happened recently, anything changed with the Titans?" I paused, thinking about it for a moment.

"Actually, yes there is one thing. I met their leader, the uh the Supreme Titan. I didn't even know the Titan's had a hierarchy, and then I meet their leader. Well maybe met the leader is an overstatement. I didn't really meet him, I met a pillar of smoke with him in it."

"How does a Titan become a Supreme Titan?" Michael asked.

"Hell if I know. From what I've been told, those who are meant to be Titans are always Titans, they just exist as humans and pokemon, or reborns as one point in time. I would assume that Supreme Titans start off as humans also, hell if I know."

"Are their multiple Supreme Titans?" Michael asked.

"As least one at a time, but that's all I know. Apparently, the Supreme Titan has…something that the others don't to make them Supreme." I looked at the TV. "Maybe it's a power to make this movie good."

"No power on heaven or earth can make this movie good." Michael said. "Can I tell you what I think? What we both are thinking, and we just don't want to admit."

"Do tell." I said.

"That your time as an Umbreon and as an Eevee was a preparation period. The real test is still coming, even if we don't know what it is. It's coming, and it'll be worse then anything we could ever imagine."

I wanted to respond, I would have loved to respond, but I couldn't. Truth be told, I had been thinking the same thing for a long time now. That I was about to be put into a fight, a battle worse then anything that had ever come before. When it ended, I might end up dead, permanently dead this time. God, I'd finally have to see the other side of Eternity, finally have to confront all the people I let die.

"I don't want to think that's it." I said, "Then it would mean that my friends and my mother died because of some fucking TEST! Some test that was just preparing me for something worse down the road! I can't believe that Michael, I-I just can't." Michael pulled me tightly into him.

"Don't worry." He whispered, "No matter what, you don't have to be afraid. Whatever it is, I'll be there, and I'll help you through it."

"Thanks Michael." I whispered. We kissed slowly, then quicker. Michael slowly began working my shirt off, but I slapped his hand away. "Not yet."  
"Any idea when yet will be?"

"Every time you ask, it gets further and further away." I smiled, "Someday, but not right now." I turned my attention back to the TV. "New movies on, what's this one called?"

"The Skydivers."

"Any good?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

It wasn't.

**AN: **It really is a bad movie.


	35. Foolishness Can Happen In The Woods

**XXXV: Foolishness Can Happen In The Woods**

A day later, we were once again in the woods, outside of Azalea Town and near the Ilex Forrest. I was grumbling as we made camp.

"I mean, I never even got to buy the pokeball I wanted. It was crafted by Kurt! But no, it's expensive! Bah, screw money!"

"Angela, it was a gold and platinum ball" Michael said, "Encrusted in emeralds, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. It was the copy of the one designed for the royal family of Sinnoh. It cost three hundred thousand! Besides, it doesn't even work, it's solid gold and platinum! Why would you want a pokeball that doesn't work."

"It was so shinny!" I said. A better argument you're unlikely to hear.

Charlotte was walking beside Virgil, flipping a pokeball between her fingers. She looked over at the silent boy.

"So, did you do everything you wanted in Azalea Town?" Virgil nodded. "Did you miss anything?" Virgil shook his head. "You don't talk much do you?"

"I find communication distracting." He growled.

"Yeah, you have to communicate. I can see how that could be distracting." Charlotte said. "So, you said you were a pokemon once, how does one deal with you people?"

"…Us people?" Virgil asked

"Yeah, do I have to feed a pokemon if I own it? Do I let it go get its own food? Do I have to spend time with it? That's not really my thing. I mean—"

"Please be quiet." Virgil snapped. "This is not my concern, figure it out on your own."

"You were a pokemon you said, I thought you might care."

"Don't think about me. You'll be wrong."

"I think we should make camp." Michael said, "We're all a bit testy right now."

* * *

A few hours later, most of us were asleep. Charlotte was wide awake though, staring at the ceiling of her tent. She sighed.

"I get to take care of a pokemon now, that's just wonderful." Charlotte laughed, "I can barely take care of my self. How the hell do I look after a living creature? I'll screw up, I always screw up. I need air." Charlotte climbed out of her sleeping bag and her tent. The cold air washed over her, causing her to shiver.

"My licensee will be returned to me after a year of loosing it." Charlotte said to herself, "It's been three and a half months. All I can think about is getting away from theses people, these overly happy judgmental people. I want away from it all, I just want some time by myself." She pulled out a cigarette and lit up.

"I mean, when it was just Desiree and me, everything was fine. She was company, but she was in her own little crazy ass world enough that she never became a problem. Angela though, hell no! I swear that the girl has it out for me, she wants me to be absolutely miserable and—"

A twig snap. Charlotte jerked around, just in time to see Virgil again headed into the woods. Again he had a large unidentified object, or maybe a bunch of objects, under his arms.

"You know, the last time I followed him, Suicune made my life a living hell and dragged me around the world. Of course" She took a drag, "Virgil was being a jerk to me. Let's see what he's up to."

Charlotte took a step, and nearly stumbled over Quintcel.

"Gah! Where did you come from?" Charlotte cried.

"Shhh, you'll wake everyone up." Quintcel said. "I have to come with you."

"What? No!"

"Yes I do, I have to come with you. A pokemon must protect its trainer." He said. "Besides, you need me. I'm the worlds strongest and smartest Heracross. I once killed a Dragonite with just my horn."

"A Dragonite?" Charlotte asked, giving him a look.

"Well, it might have been a bit smaller. It might have been a potato actually, but that's not the point. I'm also smart. I figured out how to unboil a boiled egg." One wonders why you would want to unboil an egg, but that's a question for another day.

"Well, if you can unboil an egg, I guess you can come." Charlotte said, desperately trying to suppress a smile. "I might need protection."

"I wont let you down m'lady." Quintcel said. The two of them set off after Virgil, again into the dark woods. The two of them used the end of Charlottes cigarette as an absolutely useless light, trying to find Virgil.

"Don't go that way!"

"I'm not, but I can eat this."

"Shut up, I hear something." Charlotte said. The two of them came across a small clearing, with a fire going in it. Quintcel and Charlotte peaked through the trees.

"W-what on earth?" Virgil had strung up two logs, tied together in a cross shape with some rope, and tied that too a branch. On the head of the cross was a rubber mask, a Gyarados mask. He was sitting in front of it, reading a book and holding what looked like a hunting knife.

"Destruction of the third vertebrae will cause immediate death." Virgil mumbled. He felt along his own back. "For a species that does as much dangerous stuff as them, humans are oddly fragile."

"We're not that fragile!" Charlotte said, walking into the clearing. Without a word, Virgil was up and running straight at her, only stopping when Quintcel jumped in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Virgil snapped.

"I could ask you the same thing." Charlotte said, "Shatter the vertebrae? Who talks like that? Better question, what on earth is that thing? Why does it have a Gyarados mask on and why do you have a knife?" Virgil dropped the knife, and turned away from them. He sat down and started reading again.

"It's none of your business, though your concern is appreciated. Both of you may leave." Quintcel moved away, and he and Charlotte moved over beside Virgil.

_If I can help him, I have an obligation to. Might as well ask._

"Tell me what this is. All of it. I-I'd really like to know what all of this is." Charlotte said.

"It's none of your concern." Virgil said, "Please leave."

"Come on, tell us." Charlotte said, "I care."

"Lady Charlotte is being nice to you." Quintcel said, "Please pay her the correct respect."

"I am being respectful, and you should respect my privacy." Virgil said.

"Virgil, you've got a book on human anatomy." Charlotte said. "You have a knife that I've never seen before that looks like it could gut a Salamance. You're sneaking away in the middle of the night, and for some reason you're still wearing sunglasses!" Virgil took the glasses off.

"I wore these before because the light burned." He put them back on again. "I can't go without them. They're a reminder."

"A reminder of what?" Quintcel asked.

"Who. Ms. Lisa, my trainer when I was a Zangoose." Charlotte expected Quintcel to question this, but that didn't really bother him. "She gave them to me, and I accompanied her on our journey. I am from Johto, it is familiar for me."

"You were from Johto?" Charlotte asked, "I didn't know that."

"It was…It was a long time ago, not something I enjoy talking about. My mate and I lived in Ilex forest."

"Your mate?" Charlotte asked. "You had a mate?" Virgil sighed, flipping through the book. "Look, if you're uncomfortable I can shut up."

"I am not uncomfortable, I am not allowed to be uncomfortable." Virgil said. "Yes I had a mate, Mara. She was my first mate and we lived in the forest, away from most other Zangoose. I would have preferred others, but Mara wanted it to be just her and me."

"That's sweet." Charlotte said, "What happened to her?"

"…She died." Virgil said. "She fell from a tree, I was responsible for it. I said we should live in this tree, which I did not know shared a family of Arbok. It was…my fault, always my fault."

"Your mate falling from a tree can't be your fault." Charlotte said, "Not unless you pushed her out of that tree. You didn't, did you?"

"Lady Charlotte" Quintcel said, "I'd suggest not questioning him about his mate."

"I loved Mara!" Virgil snarled. "I would have given my life to protect her, but I could not do it. It was my fault she died, it was my fault that Enfer died."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Whose Enfer?" Charlotte asked. Virgil sighed.

"She was magnificent. The most magnificent fire-type I had ever laid eyes on. Enfer was carved out of stone, like a mountain, absolutely unbreakable. She was one of the few pokemon I knew, not thought but knew, could defeat me in combat, and I would not have stood a chance.

"I was attracted to Mara because of her sweetness, her innocence and her positive attitude no mater what. Enfer though, it was her raw strength, the energy that radiated from her. They were different, yet both captured me. They were…They were my reason for living." Charlotte moved closer beside Virgil, while Quintcel fell asleep standing up.

"What happened to Enfer?" Charlotte asked. Virgil flipped the hunting knife in his hands.

"She is dead as well. I could not help her fight the man in the mask. The man in the Gyarados mask." He looked up at the mask he had hung up. "The man is dead now as well. Through his death I am robbed of any chance for vengeance I could get."

"Vengeance doesn't get you anything." Charlotte said. Virgil laughed at this.

"Do you think that I care any more? I've already learned that revenge is a hollow victory, but I do not care. It feels good to take back from those who have taken from you." Virgil flipped the knife again.

"Where did you get all of this stuff?" Charlotte asked, "The knife, the book, the mask, all of it?"

"Angela paid for it. She did not know what I had purchased, only that I assured her it was necessary."

"She never does pay attention." Charlotte said. "I'll add that to her list of offenses. Just out of curiosity, what was Enfle?"

"Enfer." Virgil snapped, "She was an Arcanine. So much larger then me, but it did not matter to us."

"An Arcanine." Charlotte grinned. "So Angela's mother was a bitch? Makes sense to me."

"Do not joke about Enfer!" Virgil yelled. "She will be respected, by you and by all."

"Is she the reason you're on this journey?" Charlotte asked. "I mean, you said you were protecting Angela, but from what?"

"Enfer made me promise." Virgil said. "No matter what happened to her, I would look after Angela, if she no longer could. Just because I died does not mean I can no longer follow her wishes."

"What about what you want?" Virgil stood up, and walked over to the cross and mask.

"What I want is irrelevant." He stabbed the wooden cross. "If I fail Enfer, I would not be able to live with myself. If I allowed someone to be hurt again, I would kill myself. I have to protect Angela."

"So, how is this protecting her?" Charlotte asked. "When we're in the woods, you come out here, read about the human body, and stab a wooden dummy?"

"I only do it every third night. Besides, this is preparation. If I do not keep this pathetic body well honed, I will inevitably fail in my mission."

"Pathetic body?" Charlotte asked with faux outrage, "The human body is not pathetic." Virgil sat down again in front of her.

"This body is pathetic. While my vision is better, that's because I have not taken acid to the eyes. My body is slow, unresponsive, and weak. I have no claws, no ability to use moves, I am human."

"I say take pride in that fact."

"I did not want to be human." Virgil said. "I would much rather be a Zangoose again, or any pokemon. Even, and may Arceus forgive me, an Ekans then a human. In this body, I am weak, and I am constrained."

"Well, you've got two choices." Charlotte said, "You can stubbornly bang your head against a wall and mope about not being a pokemon, or you can adjust."

"I will not adjust." He stated.

"Why am I not surprised? I'm beginning to think that a requirement for being in this group is being a stubborn moron." Charlotte sighed, "So, is their anything you enjoy about being human?"

"…Not from being human, but there is something I enjoy." Virgil said. "It is, uh, how is it that you came to know Desiree?"

"Desiree? I helped her break out of a boarding school." Virgil gave her a look. "It's a long story. Anyways, we've been traveling a while now, and she's my close friend. Why do you ask?" Virgil didn't respond, seeming…nervous?

"W-would she ever consider taking me on as a mate?" If Charlotte hadn't been sitting down, she would have fallen over."

"You want to take a human for your mate?" Quintcel asked.

"When did you wake up?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm always awake and asleep. The two are one and the same." He replied.

"They're not, like at all, but I'll ignore that for now. Virgil, why on earth do you want Desiree?" Virgil sighed.

"I do not know when this desire began, but I have begun feeling attraction for Desiree for some time. She is pure, but not naïve. Desiree knows that the world is not perfect, but she does not let it effect her. This-this is what I want in a mate, and I want her."

"Okay, news flash, Desiree doesn't like you very much." Charlotte said.

"Maybe if you told her how you felt, she might reconsider." Quintcel said. Charlotte reached over and smacked him.

"Don't encourage him."

"I can not tell Desiree." Virgil said, "She would see me as weak, you do not attract a mate by showing weakness."

"She would think you had emotions you dolt! Right now I think she assumes you're part tree, lord knows I did. If Desiree saw that you do actually have emotions and thoughts, maybe she'd be less freaked out by you."

"No, I've attracted two mates without showing weakness. I will not change now." Charlotte sighed, and stood up.

"The sun will be up soon, we should head back."

"I will as soon as I take this down." Virgil said.

"Alright, we'll head out, come on Quintcel." As they left, Charlotte turned back to Virgil. "Next time you're coming out here, tell me."

"Why?"

"Because frankly, you shouldn't have to be here alone. I know you're in pain, but it's a lot easier if you have someone like me."

"Some one like you?" Virgil asked. Charlotte smiled.

"A friend." With that, the two left Virgil alone.


	36. Make A Wish I

**XXXVI: Make A Wish I**

"It's time to begin the first test." Not Meowth said. He, the Supreme Titan, and Not Qwilfish floated in Eternity, along with Celebi, Dialga, and Arceus. "Angela needs to be stripped of all that she knows." Celebi laughed.

"This is my favorite test. I so rarely get to do anything except make sure Dialga doesn't—"

"Dialga smash puny time stream!" Dialga shouted.

"Destroy all of time. Thank you Dialga for reminding me that you can be omnipotent and a moron at the same time."

Alright, I'll try and explain the relation between Dialga and Celebi as best I can my dear listener. Truth be told, I barely understand it, and I was omnipotent once! Dialga was originally created to be the watcher of all time, the guardian that made sure time was left unaltered. Originally though, he was also created to be the guardian of all space, not just time. So, Dialga and Palkia were originally created as one legendary, but it was decided that power over space and time was to much for one pokemon, so they were split in two. Except, they also split their brain.

So Mew created two legendary who both literally had half a brain.

While no one worried about humans trying to take the powers of Palkia, because who the hell wants power of space, they worried someone might want to control Dialga. They needed a back up time guardian, one who wouldn't be distracted by shiny objects, and thus was born Celebi.

"I don't think this test is fair." Not Qwilfish whispered to Not Meowth, "It's sent at least one of our charges insane after it was over."

"That's because she experienced her own death" Not Meowth replied, "We're not going to do that anymore. I hope anyway."

"The three of us will monitor Angela's actions" The Supreme Titan said, "And make sure her personality is suppressed throughout the test."

"We will monitor the time stream" Acreus said, "But if it is in anyway altered, I shall personally hold you responsible."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

Ilex forest is dark, really dark. It's a miserable, dark, depressing forest full of thick trees and poison type pokemon. The ground is overrun with roots, and you have to be careful not to trip over them since you can't see the damn things. The air is thick, and full of pollen that made my eyes burn. In all, it's a miserable hell hole that smells like shit.

Why the hell would you put a shrine to Celebi here?

"I just don't get it." I told Michael.

"It's simple" Michael said, "They wanted to put a shrine to Celebi in a place where all people could come an pay homage. Except, the people who put up the shrine were all really stupid, so they put it in this forest. Okay, that may not be true, but I'm going to pretend it is."

"Good enough for me." I mumbled. We had finally entered Ilex forest, on the way to Goldenrod City, the largest city on Earth. God I wish we were there. The sun was high in the sky, but it couldn't penetrate the thick canopy of the forest.

"Angela," Anna said from my shoulder, "Where are we? I can only see outlines."

"Meh, it means we fight in the dark." Saya said, "A new challenge!" Only she would think that. As we turned a corner, something green drew our attention.

"What's the glow?" I asked.

"It's shiny! Let me get my paint!" I heard Desiree say. Me and Michael moved closer to the glowing green energy.

"I think this is the Celebi shrine." Michael said. I felt along the face of it, coming to a handle.

"Really?" I asked, pulling it open, "Well then, what's—"

A blast of green energy struck me in the chest. For a moment, everything was lit up, but all I could see was green.

I was flying…

_…floating…_

…falling.

"Owe!" I dusted my skirt off, pushing myself back up.

"Amelia, are you alright?" I looked over at the speaker. In front of me was a color girl, in a dirty burgundy and black laced blouse-skirt, but lacking the awful straight-fronted corset. If only I could have been so lucky.

"I'm alright Nessa." I said. "It's this blasted corset, I can barely breathe in this, and it's making walking impossible, I swear it's clamping my quim." Nessa blushed at this.

"Ratti?" I looked down at my Raticate, smiling.

"It's alright Oliver." I said, rubbing the back of his head, "It's alright. Just bruised. Nessa, can you help me get this thing off?" Nessa came over and helped me remove the damned corset, and my dress. Underneath it were male clothes, something frowned upon for women to wear, but no longer illegal.

I removed the long cotton shirt, and Nessa helped me secure the corset over my bosom. I may have hated the blasted thing, but it could be used to flatten my chest over short periods of time.

After we had the corset secured, I pulled my shirt back on, put on my fathers riding gloves, and picked up my mask. The mask was made from a sackcloth with crude eyes cut out, and a mouth stitched on. It would hide my face, and mask my voice.

"Why do you do this?" Nessa asked. "You seemed determined to go to hell across lots. Your father says he thinks your only goal in life is to exflunicate him."

"Nessa, in five years it'll be a new century, the twentieth century." I said. "For as long as I remember, women have been less. Coloreds have been less, foreigners have been less, less then white native men. Do you want the next century to be like this?"

"…No."

"Then I gotta do this Nessa." I said, "When it's the right time, I'll show them who I am. There is rumor that a league of pokemon battles might be started soon in Kanto, but like here they're not going to let women in. That's what I want to change, that's why I do this Nessa." I pulled my mask on. "Farewell Nessa." I picked up the three pokeballs, the size of grapefruits. Each was red and white, with a button on the top of the white top half. "Come on Oliver."

"Before you go!" Nessa called out, "Take this." She handed me a small glass vial. "It's a potion, but I added a few things to it, should make it more potent."

"Thanks Nessa." I said. I moved out of the trees, back to the streets of the city. I could smell sea breeze in the air, the docks, where the battles would be taking place.

* * *

Pokemon battles were a weekly event in my city, by the docks and between white men. Anyone who wanted to battle could enter with 3 pokemon, any 3 of the 65 known species of pokemon. Bets were made on the battles, but that's not why I did it. I did it to prove a point, and because it was so damn fun.

When I arrived, their was a smaller crowd then usual, but you'd have never guessed it from the noise. Men in a circle yelling, waving money, shouting at the pokemon and in general being clods. I maneuvered through them, to get a better look at the battle currently in progress.

Two men, one in slacks and one in suspenders, yelling at there two pokemon. The one had a Wartortle, shooting water at the other, a Sandslash. Oliver pressed closer against me.

"Don't start a-quivering, now's not the time to turn tail. We're going to beat the tar outta one of them." Oliver looked up at me.

"Ratta!" I smiled. Oliver was one of my three pokemon, and my personal favorite. The other two were Jesse, a Fearow, and Marcus, a Beedrill. I'd only had the other two a year, but Oliver I had caught when I was six, with a pokeball I found on the street. He was my strongest, I knew he could take anything.

The Sandslash was knocked out by a torrent of water from the Wartortle. The man in the slacks dropped his head in shame, and picked up a single pokeball off the ground.

"Alright, now which one of you queer pukes thinks you can beat my Wartortle. One hundred to who ever thinks they can beat me." Did I need anymore invitation.

"I'll challenge you." I said, moving through the crowd and keeping my voice low. The man in the overalls looked at me and laughed.

"You in the mask? You think you can take me? You're Raticate is a pansy, he can't beat me."

"Oliver is as savage as a meat axe." I said, "He can take anything you attempt."

"Please, he's nothing." The man said, "Besides, why should I challenge you, you're dressed like a fool. You could be a nigger under that mask."

"If I beat you, it wont matter if I'm a colored, now will it?" I asked. "Now start!"

"Alright, you've brought this on you." The man said. "Wartortle, water-gun."

"Dodge Oliver." I commanded. Oliver leapt back, letting the water strike against the cement, He then zoomed into the Wartortle, tackling him and knocking him down. Wartortle fired again, hitting Oliver under the chin and knocking him back a bit.

Oliver quick attacked, hitting the Wartortle on it's softer underside. He attempted to bite into the shell using Hyper Fang, but Wartortle blew itself back with a Bubble.

"Tail whip." As Wartortle began to tail whip, Oliver slammed into it with a tackle. Frankly, no one should use Tail Whip, but that's just my humble opinion.

"End this battle." I said, "Use Super Fang." Oliver bit down, harder, this time cracking the shell. Wartortle shrieked, and passed out, giving the battle to me.

* * *

I won another two battles before heading back to Nessa. She helped me get redressed, complaining that she wasn't allowed to observe the battles. Coloreds aren't allowed on the docks unfortunately, due to the Black Codes. I then headed back to fathers shop.

My father was a lot less strict then most fathers would be to their daughters, but he still believed in the Codes. This meant that I had to be careful when I gave him an excuse that explained what I was doing instead of battling with pokemon. Still, it was worth it.

I walked into my fathers clock repair shop, through the back door. I looked around carefully, making sure my father was not waiting. Since his shop was our house, I had entered through the kitchen. I went to the pantry, where I again stored the three pokeballs and my costume, behind a bushel of apples. I then headed into my fathers workshop.

"I am back from the library father." I said, waking up behind him. He was at a desk, tinkering with a pocket watch.

"I sometime think I shouldn't have taught you how to read." He said, smirking, "If I hadn't, you'd have to spend more time with me."

"I spend plenty of time with you father." I said, "If I spent more, you would soon grow sick of me."

"Amelia, I could never grow sick of you." Father said, spinning around to see me.

"What are you working on?" I asked, looking over his shoulder. "Oh wonderful, is this?"

"Yes, it is Daniel's pocket watch." Father said, "He has brought it now eleven times, but he doesn't care about it. Daniel still wants to court you."

"He can court a Growlithe." I said, "He's a Mary." Daniel was Daniel Grey, son of Morgan Grey, one of the richest land owners in the region. Daniel was a little pug of a man, with small greedy eyes, and shockingly white hair. His skin always looked slick with grease, and his voice was like nails on my ears. For some reason though, he was infatuated with me, desperately wanting me as his wife. Sam Hill would skate to work before I would be his wife.

"Yes, I suppose he would." Father said.

* * *

Dinner was meat, vegetables, water, and freshly baked rolls from Patricks Bakery across the street. Father and I ate in the light of our new oil lamp.

"I hope to eventually be able to install filament bulbs." Father said to me, barely looking up from his meal, "To expensive right now."

"Maybe someday." I mumbled.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" Father asked. I nodded. "Again? Amelia, you need to spend more time at home and less time out. People will get the wrong idea seeing you out without a man, or God forbid, with a Negro."

"As if all the biddy's out there really care who I'm seen with." I mumbled.

"Amelia, I've seen you associating with that colored girl" Father said, "That girl who helps Mr. Clearey." Mr. Clearey was the town pharmacist, who dispensed potions to heal pokemon. "As far as coloreds go, she isn't that terrible, but it's still best not to be seen with her."

"Who cares if I associate with Nessa?" I asked.

"It's not the way things are Amelia!" Father said, voice raising. "I wish you were more like other girls sometimes. They don't hang out with Negro's."

"They also don't have a thought in their head." I said, "They're nits, who don't know how to read, who don't have an opinion, who think pokemon battles are a mans sport."

"They are a mans sport." Father said, "Nice girls shouldn't be thinking about things like that. They should consider finding a husband, and raising a family."

"They should live their lives according to the Codes" I said, "Which will drain them of their souls, and turn them into brainless shells."

"The Codes do no such thing." Father said, "They provide order to our lives, they remind everyone where their place is. Your place is in the home Amelia, and you need to remember it."

"I'll never marry." I whispered, before going back to eating.

_

* * *

_

The Codes, Lord how I loathe the Codes.

It was night now, and I was in my room above the shop. I had an oil lamp on my vanity, and was looking at myself in the mirror. Not really looking though, thinking about the Codes and the way of things.

The Codes were laws that had been in effect for…well longer then I know. For at least two hundred years, maybe longer. They were designed to remind people of their place, though it's odd. Their were no Codes for white men.

The Women Codes were the only ones that effected me, but I hated them so much. The Women Codes made it illegal for women to have a job. It was illegal for a woman to own property, or hold a government position. It was illegal for woman to own Pokemon. That last one had made me decide the codes had to die, and I had to fight them.

I had designed the costume using fabric scraps and pieces of a sack. With the corset, and Nessa's help, I could flatten my breasts and disguise the fact I was a woman. Many people actually battled in costume, so no one questioned me wearing one. Nessa helped me with this for…well I don't really know. I know she wanted the Colored Codes removed, but she never really did anything about it.

"It doesn't matter." I mumbled, "I'll fight them, until I die…"

I paused. For a second, I saw something in the mirror, and it wasn't me. Or not the me I knew. The girl in the mirror was my height, and had black hair like me. She was heavier then I was, and was not dressed in a night gown. Rather, she was in denim jeans, and a black shirt with writing on it. I blinked, and suddenly my reflection was back.

"I-I think I need sleep." I mumbled.

* * *

"Fifteen New Species of Pokemon Announced." I read. It was the next morning, Father and I had just finished breakfast. The morning papers headline had sparked my interest. "That brings the total up to what, eighty now?"

"Eighty." Father laughed softly, "I don't think I'll be able to remember all eighty, that's just to many."

"It says they're considering splitting Earth-Type into two types, Rock and Ground. Those are just stupid, we'd have twelve types then." I said, as I took our dishes to the basin to be washed. From Father's workshop we could hear a bell ring, someone had just entered.

"I'll get it." Father said, though I wish he hadn't. Almost immediately he came back, and I knew why. "Daniel is here for his watch Amelia." Father sighed, "He wont leave until you give him the time of day." I sighed.

"Better to get it over with soon then later." I said, walking past Father and into the workshop, where Daniel waited.

"Hello Angela" A bald man, no boy, in a suite, smiling, "Donny missed you Angela, he knew he'd find you again."

"I-I…who are you?"

"You know who I am Amelia." Daniel said. I blinked rapidly, verifying it was Daniel who I saw. "Now, I believe you have something that belongs to me?" I went over to Father's desk, and grabbed Daniel's watch. He smiled as I handed it to him, grabbing it with his greasy fingers.

"Your father does great work." Daniel said. "You know, you and I should do something together."

"I would rather spend the night with the devil." I said. "We will never be together Daniel."

"Why not?" Daniel asked. "My family is important you know. We own most of the region, we help support Free Silver. I'd pay you your weight in silver."

"Then I would beat you with it." I said, "Good-bye Daniel." I left the store, back into the kitchen, "Sorry about that Father, Daniel is still a creep."

"What are these?" Father asked. I looked, and my blood ran cold. My costume, and my pokeballs, all three of them. "Why are these in our house?"

"Why-why do you have those?" I asked.

"The apples smelled rotten." Father said, "I went to investigate, and imagine my surprise when I found these behind them. What are you doing with pokeballs Amelia?"

"They're mine." I said, deciding just to tell him. "I've been training pokemon for the last three years." Fathers face turned bright red, I could feel the heat radiating off of him.

"You have been training pokemon? The Codes strictly forbid women training pokemon!"

"The Codes can piss off!" I shouted. "The codes are everything wrong with life Father. Who cares if I train pokemon?"

"It is not the way of things." Father seethed.

"Then the way of things need to piss off also." I snapped. Father slapped me, hard across my left cheek. I could feel tears well up in my eyes, but I did not cry.

"Get out of here Amelia. Right now, I need to be alone." Father said.

"Fine." I grabbed my pokeballs and costume, "But I'm taking my pokemon. Good-bye Father."

**AN: **Angela/Amelia is living in about 1895.


	37. Make A Wish II

**AN:** I wanted to update last week, but I had to chose between math or SOASN. Math won. Here is the second part.

**XXXVII: Make A Wish II**

"We can't be talkin' anymore then Amelia." Nessa said. "If your father were to tell the authorities, you know what would happen!" Don't I ever.

Women are not punished for owning pokemon. Not directly any ways. Their pokemon are shot and killed in front of them. The logic is that, trained pokemon can't survive in the wild, nor are they likely to answer to another trainer. Also, if a woman watches her pokemon die, then she herself is less likely to try and train pokemon again.

"I'm not going to let that happen." I said, "I'll just have to find new places to store these guys." I looked down at the three pokeballs I had nestled against my breast. "They'll have to kill me before they kill them."

We were back in our meeting spot, a small grove of trees and bushes off of a city street. I had most of my costume back on, my breasts flattened against my body. Their were battles going on, strange for a week day, but not unheard of. I had decided, if Father was going to report me, I'd have one last day of battles.

"If I could hide 'em Angela, I would." Nessa said. I paused at this.

"Angela?"

"Angela? Whose Angela?" Nessa asked.

"I could have sworn I heard you say…never mind." I pulled the mask on. "You think I'm ready to cap the climax? I'll beat 'em all."

"I know you will Amelia." Nessa said, "I-I'll be cheering for you." I left her.

* * *

The boodle was unusually large for a weekday. They were cheering, drinking, carrying-on, all drunk and stupid. I was in the center, where I wanted to be, still in my costume. Actually, I had just beaten some one in a very grum costume with a leather mask.

"Challenge me! Challenge me you louts!" I growled, trying to keep my voice low. "I have beaten five of you now, I have…" For a moment, I could see through the crowd, at the ocean.

Moving through the ocean, was a head, of a snake? A serpent, a sea serpent, multi-colored.

_A Milotic?_

I blinked rapidly, and the sea serpent was gone, the ocean empty. I shook my head rapidly, clearing it.

"I will challenge you." A voice, a very familiar voice. A very huffy voice, one I did not want to hear. Daniel walked through the crowd of people, a smile on his face, swinging a walking stick. He was brandishing a top hat, which was a sign that he was rich, among a crowd of poor and desperate. I said nothing, glad that my mask hid my surprise.

"Y-you wish to challenge me?" I asked. Daniel laughed. He held up a single pokeball.

"I wish to show off the strength of a new pokemon, something Father picked up on his trip to Kanto. I think it is something that will amaze all of you. He pressed the large button on the top, releasing it.

"What in Sam Hill is that?" I whispered. The creature in front of me was a four-legged thing with creamy fur and a mane of fire. It's very eyes appeared to be on fire. It's feet ended in hooves, that it kept stamping on the ground.

"It's a new pokemon." Daniel said, "If I remember, it's name is Ponyta. It will defeat you."

"No such thing will happen. Marcus, you are first" I shouted, opening his ball. I assumed the Ponyta was a fire-type, though I could not be certain due to the constantly changing types. "Marcus, use your pin missile!"

Marcus fired a rapid number of sharp pins at the Ponyta, only to have them burn up at contact. Defiantly fire-type.

"Let's see, I remember an attack of yours." Daniel said, "Ember Ponyta!" The Ponyta unleashed several embers directly at Marcus, who avoided by dodging out of the way.

Marcus attempted to attack with a twin-needle, only to be burned by flames from the Ponyta. It spun around and stomped Marcus with its back hooves, knocking him down.

"Defeat that Beedrill, fire spin Ponyta." Daniel commanded.

Flames suddenly sprung up around Marcus, burning him severely. He tried to fly out, only to find more flames, and finally collapsed.

"You did well my friend." I said, withdrawing Marcus and putting his pokeball down. I picked up the second. "Oliver, you are second."

"Rati!" Oliver emerged, and almost instantly retreated behind me, scared of the Ponyta.

"Don't be yellow Oliver, super fang." Oliver ran directly at the Ponyta, who lifted one hoof and stomped him into the ground. Oliver turned and bit into its leg.

Ponyta shrieked, and kicked, trying to swing Oliver off. Oliver let go, and quick attacked into Ponyta's face. Ponyta used Ember to burn Oliver's face, calling him to fall to the ground.

Oliver leapt off of the ground and onto Ponyta's back. He used Hyper-Fang, biting her in the back of the neck. Ponyta responded by flaring its fire mane, burning Oliver harder.

"Take down." Daniel ordered his new pokemon. Oliver was tossed to the ground, and slammed by Ponyta. He gasped once, and passed out. That's two down, and the Ponyta was still standing.

"You did the best you could." I said, withdrawing Oliver. That left Jesse, perfect. "Jesse, you are third."

Jesse emerged in a flutter of light above the Ponyta. She looked down at it, with a detached and confused look. "Peck!" I shouted. Jesse flew down, and pecked the Ponyta directly between its eyes.

"Take Down." Daniel said.

"Mirror move." I shouted. Ponyta leapt at Jesse, who was hit but not knocked down. Jesse slammed into the Ponyta full force, causing it to stumble back. Ponyta was bruised, maybe even having trouble staying up. One leg was bleeding from Oliver's bite.

"Fire spin." Daniel order. Flames shot up around Jesse, who flew up, trying to avoid them. She kept flying up, finally making it over the flames, free of the fire.

"Drill peck!" I ordered. "The bite on the back of the neck." Jesse's beak began spinning, and she pierced the Ponyta's back. Ponyta shrieked, stumbled, and finally collapsed onto the ground. The match was mine.

"N-No." Daniel whispered. "I-I did not, No No No No No!" He buried his head in his hands.

* * *

"Daniel looked like he was going to weep." I said. "I know how much he hates to loose, and now it looks like he'll hang up his fiddle. No more battles for him."

"I know, I saw." Nessa said to me. "I-uh, was hiding in the crowd, watching. If-if you aren't afraid of your father, h-how can I be afraid?"

It was about a half an hour after I left Daniel. I was barely paying attention to Nessa, still thinking of that Ponyta. That last statement however got my attention.

"You didn't have to do that." I said, "I'd never want you to get in trouble."

"I-It's not a crime for me to be out by myself." Nessa said.

"I'm pretty sure it is, they'd arrest you for vagrancy." I said. For some reason, we both smiled at this.  
"My momma taught me that law. About persons of color needing employment, and papers from their employers to walk around. Slavery ended over one hundred years ago, and they just replaced it with the Codes. I-I want to see them end Amelia, just as much as you do."

"We will end them." I said. "Well make them acknowledge the corn, some how. The codes will go, and we'll be free." I looked down at my three pokeballs, which I had wrapped in my costume. "Then I wont have to hide them any more. I wont have to wear this any more."

"Yes, that'll be the day." Nessa sighed. "I gotta go Amelia."

"Be careful, my friend." We parted ways. I made my way through back streets, holding my pokeballs against my body and trying to hide them. I made sure to not be seen, by anyone. "Where am I going?" I whispered. If I went home, Father would be waiting, and who knows what he would be thinking. Of course, I could—"

"Amelia!" A voice cried out. I turned around, nearly slipping on my skirt.

"Father?" Father ran over to me, face full of concern. "What are you doing?"

"You ran out of the house, I was concerned for you." Father said to me.

"Well, I just couldn't stand to be there." I said.

"Please, come home Amelia." Father said, "We'll talk about this on the way."

* * *

"You need to give up your pokemon Amelia. Just let them go."

Our talk had not been going well. Father's position was simple, I was to give up my pokemon, and start living according to the codes. My response was equally simple, no.

"Why, why should I give them up?" I asked. Father was currently holding all three of them, as not to draw attention to us. I was holding my costume though. "If I were a man, would it matter?"

"If you were a man, would not be rules about these things." Father replied. "In spite of what you believe I do not like the codes Amelia. I also have no interest to redefine the world. I just want us to be able to live comfortably within the law."

"The law is wrong!" I snapped. "No matter what you may think, no matter how you try to defend it, the law is wrong. It must be changed." Father sighed.

"I wish you wouldn't say things like this." We finally arrived back at Father's shop. "You wont change your opinion, and neither will I."

"Yes, well I suppose that's just going to be how things are." I said, entering the building. A man in a black and silver uniform greeted me. "Uh, hello? Who are you?"

"This is Constable Aubrjenios." Father said, "An acquaintance of mine."

"F-Father?" I asked.

"Hello Amelia." The Constable said, "I'm glad to meet you, I wish it weren't under these circumstances." He looked at my pokeballs. "Are these them?"

"Yes, these are them." Father said, handing over my pokeballs.

"What are you doing, give those back!" I said, trying to grab them. Father grabbed my arm, holding it tight. "Father, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Amelia." He said, "It's the way of things. If you had agreed to, let them go, I would have let you. You were stubborn, so I had to do this."

"Yes, that is the smart decision." The Constable said. He pulled out a small metal device, that looked like a hook. "This will disable the balls, keep them from opening. The pokemon inside will die within twenty-four hours, thankfully without pain." He gave me one look. "Remember, this is your fault. If it weren't for you, they might be able to survive in the wild."

"No!" I sobbed, "Don't do this, please!" The Constable started work on the first ball. "Guys…I'm so sorry guys."

* * *

All dead. Jesse, Oliver, Marcus, all three of them were alive yesterday. It-It still wasn't real.

Father had wanted me to eat dinner with him, but I chose not to. If I did, my fork might slip and make its way into his eye. Not just that, oh no, I wasn't just mad.

I couldn't let him see me mad. I didn't want him to see me anything, no anger or sorrow. No, I wouldn't cry or scream, I'd sit quietly and wait. I'd show them all, by not being angry. I'd be above them, and God help me, someday I would forgive them.

Father was down below me, mulling about, doing something I didn't care. I was at my window, only lit by a small lamp. My mask was in my hands, I kept running it through my fingers. I could see half of my face in the window, and the stars in the sky.

One streaks across the clouds, I can follow it with my eyes.

_You know what that means._ I closed my eyes.

"I-I wish for a new world." I whispered, "A world without codes, a new me, I wish my pokemon were alive." My eyes opened, only to see the stars were brighter. "Well, that's a new trick." They kept glowing bright, the entire sky lighting up.

"Oh boy" A bright flash, and I was gone.

* * *

I was floating, floating again in eternity. I was Amelia, and I was Angela, but somehow I was neither. None of it made sense, and to a certain degree, it didn't really matter. The first thing I did was remove that horrible corset.

"I bet you're glad to have that gone." Not Meowth said to me. I sighed, letting my hair fall down.

"More then you could possibly imagine." I said. "Want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

"Well, it was time to bring you back." Not Meowth said, "So I did."

"Not that." I said. "I mean, what just happened to me? Who was I? Was I Amelia or Angela?"

"Both of them." Not Meowth said, "More specifically Amelia with Angela inside. You were there, we just put you inside of Amelia's body, suppressed your personality and memories while giving you hers.

"So, was I just living our her life?" I asked.

"No, you had free will. You could make any choice you wanted." Not Meowth said, "You just thought you were Amelia. Actually, you were Amelia, just with a few moments with your real personality taking control.

"S-So was that why I saw all of those weird things?" I asked, "My reflection, Donny, the Milotic, all of that crap was me? How do a group of multidimensional demi-gods manage to not remain in control the entire time?"

"A friend of mine, a Qwilfish was in control of personality suppression." Not Meowth said, "It's the hardest part of this test, but he handled it admirably I think."

"It was a test. Some how I'm not surprised." I sighed, "Did I fail?"

"Why is it you automatically assume the worst possible solution?" Not Meowth asked. "You passed, passed beautifully. Angela, their were two things to learn from this test, one to help you in the coming battle, and one to help you through out your life.

"The first was simple, and important. You needed to learn how to survive even everything you know betraying you. Angela you were stripped of your pokemon, your identity, your freedom, even the trust of your Father. Or rather Amelia's father."

"Why would I need to know this?" I asked.

"You kept your sanity. Eventually Angela, you will be forced to confront the Milotic." Not Meowth said. I could feel my blood run cold, my anxiety rising.

"I know that." I said. Sadly I did, she wouldn't leave me alone. Eventual Not Milotic and I would meet, but that's a long time away.

"When you do, she will attack you in any way she can." Not Meowth said. "She will attack your mind, your friends, she will turn your own pokemon against you if she can. You will be betrayed, you wont even be able to trust your own mind. Angela, you learned how to keep yourself sane, and to trust yourself even when the world is against you."

"Alright, that makes sense." I said. "The second lesson?" Not Meowth paused.

"Now that you've experienced the 19th century" He said, "I assume you're proud of how much humanity has changed?"

"Of course." I said. "We no longer judge people by gender or skin."

"You're right." Not Meowth said, smiling, "Now, you judge by politics, religion, and sexuality."

"Excuse me! I do no such thing!"

"Of course not Angela" Not Meowth said, "You've never called someone a bad person because they sell Pokemon to earn money." I paused.

"W-What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that humanity hasn't changed, the exceptable targets have." Not Meowth said. "This is a lesson you are still learning, one I hope you learn soon. Good-bye Angela."

Eternity went green oddly, a glowing green consuming my field of vision. I blinked rapidly, and discovered myself on the ground.

Michael, Charlotte, Desiree, Anna, and all of the others stood around me, looking down at me.

"Uh, hello?" I tried standing up, and stumbled back, Michael grabbing me and pulling me back up. "Why are you all staring?"

"The shrine blew up!" Michael said. "You got hit with a big, green explosion, and for a minute you didn't say anything."

"Green?" I don't remember any green. Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, because when a bomb goes off on you, the best thing to do is to walk it off." Charlotte said to me sarcastically.

"Shut it." I snapped. As we moved on, I took one last, lingering look at the Celebi shrine. "Good-bye Amelia."


	38. The Growing Rejects

**AN:** Sorry about the delay, I will be able to update next week.

**XXXVIII: The Growing Rejects**

We had made it out of the forest, and were continuing on our way to Goldenrod. I was walking in the safest way possible.

"Angela, stop trying to write in your book, you can't see." Michael said.

"Seeing is for the weak, I will feel the ground with my feet." I nearly tripped over a root, only to have Michael keep me from falling. "Felt that. Now leave me alone, Anna is nearly ready to evolve, and I'm writing out three hundred possible move combinations when she becomes a Grovyle."

"Is that fun?"

"Why would fun be playing a part?" I asked, not looking up.

"I dunno, I always figured Pokemon battles should be fun." Michael said sarcastically, "I guess I was wrong."

"Best to admit it." I replied.

The day was unusual in that it was bright, but cold. As someone from Hoenn, I rarely experience cold, so I was writing to take my mind off of it. Charlotte, Desiree, and Virgil all walked beside us, looking fine, while Michael shivered. Anna and Saya walked (in Saya's case, relatively, in front of me, while the rest walked behind me.

"She looks so beautiful." Gabriel mumbled, "So green, so grassy, so sleek and beautiful. Oh, how I would love to have her in my claws."

"What are you muttering?" Trish asked, fluttering down beside him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you boffed a grass-type, you'd hurt yourself."

"So what if I did? She, they are what I want."

"You are weird." Trish said, "Which probably means that you'd fit in with our little group. How are you adjusting?"

"Miserably." Gabriel said. "I'm stuck with a stranger, I'm in a group with pokemon who don't like me, and I've got a sore on my left foot."

"That sucks." Trish said, "If it's any consolation, I know where you're coming from. I joined with no friends, no one even talked to me, except Flash."

"Flash?" Gabriel asked. Trish sighed, and shook her head.

"Not talking about him now, maybe later. Sorry, just Flash was someone very important to me, it's hard for me to even think about him. He-He died five months ago, and I still haven't fully gotten over it."

"I've never known anyone whose died." Gabriel said. "Never met my parents, might have had a brother, don't really know. My first trainer was a shiny blue doofus, and that's all I remember. I dunno why, but I swear I saw Anna before."

"Before?"

"Before my new trainer got me. I'm not sure, but I'd almost bet that I've met Anna before. Maybe I'll remember later, my memory isn't very good." Gabriel frowned. "I want something sweet."

"Sweet?" Trish asked.

"I've been craving sweet for the longest time. Not a berry, sugar. The shiny blue moron gave me sugar in a bowl to eat, and I need more now. If I don't, I think my scales might pop off. I need the white powder, and I need it right now."

"You definitely belong in our group." Trish said. "How would you like to join the Worthless Rejects?"

"The Worthless Rejects?" Gabriel asked. "As in, worthless? Why on Earth would I join a group of losers?"

"Simple, we're fun people, not losers." Trish said, "We're a group of pokemon who don't fit in anywhere else, except with people just as crazy as us."

"Who would join that?" Gabriel asked. Trish turned, her gaze coming to Quintcel.

"Hey Quintcel, want to join the Worthless Rejects?"

"Sure." He replied.

"See, not all losers." Trish said.

"Not interested." Gabriel replied.

"Well then, what are you interested in?" Trish asked. "You don't want to battle, but you don't not want to battle. Is that the correct way to say it, don't not? Anyways, your only goal seems to be to fuck a grass-type, Anna just being the closest one."

"I don't fuck!" Gabriel said, "I make sweet and gentle love that turns a females brain into goo, while she chants my name and the stars align and—"

"Gabriel!" Trish snapped, pulling him out of the fantasy. "You're getting a stiffy, let it go for craps sake. Now, what do you want?"

"I dunno yet." Gabriel said, "It's a weird question."

"It's a simple question if you ask me." Darheel said, causing Gabriel and Trish jump in surprise.

"How long have you been there?" Gabriel asked.

"Irrelevant, good sir. My goal in life is a simple one, to shed myself of this cruel insect body, and unveil the human that surely exists inside of me."

"Why would you want to be a human?" Gabriel asked, "They're soft and squishy. They break way to easily."

"I don't want to be a human, I am one." Darheel said, "Just because you can't see it does not make it true. Besides, they're not that squishy." Trish looked over at the odd Scyther.

"Here's a real question." Trish said. "Scyther never travel alone, at least not any Scyther I've ever seen. Trust me, I've seen a lot. Now, most belong to a swarm, and those who don't got kicked out. Where is your swarm?"

"I do not possess membership to a swarm." Darheel said. "The truth is that I do not desire to either."

"Hey, you got nicks in your blades." Gabriel said, "Your wings due to, and there is a scar on your leg. Are you telling the truth?"

"…No. My deception is necessary though" Darheel said, "I do not wish to talk about it." Gabriel shrugs.

"If you don't want to, I guess that's your choice." Gabriel said. "I want to know though, how do you eat with those? Or masturbate? That's one that really puzzles me, can you open doors with blades but no paws?"

"I can do all of those things, you can not ask how." Darheel said, "It is personal, especially the first."

"Right." Trish mumbled, "Its times like this that I am reminded that I am on a voyage of the damned. Though…do you guys believe in coincidence?"

"Not in the slightest." Gabriel said.

"Coincidence is just a word for the plan we do not understand Lady Trish." Darheel said. Yes my dear listener, he does talk like that. It's weird.

"Well, their has been a lot of weird coincidence, or maybe more." Trish said. "Over the last year, two years, however long, we've run into over twenty pokemon with personality quirks and weird pasts. We've been attacked, shot at, and nearly killed multiple times. We discovered someone in our own team was royalty! Then Angela became human, and she talked to Mew and something called a Titan."

"So, something is happening around Angela?" Gabriel asked.

"I'd say so." Trish replied. "I dunno what, but it's something that effects us, and it's something we need to prepare for. Weird things are happening, Angela got blasted by green light and Charlotte met Suicune!"

"I think I grasp your words m'lady." Darheel said, "You believe the legendary and forces beyond our comprehension are manipulating us towards a predestined end. Except, we have but a limited view of that predestined end."  
"That's correct…I think." Trish said. "Alright, guys I'm about to bare my soul here for a second, promise you wont talk about what I tell you."

"We promise." They said. Trish began flapping her wings harder.

"Thanks. Now, I thought I wasn't going to talk to you all about this for a long time, and I probably shouldn't. There was a group before this one, a big group. You may have heard about them."

"Vaguely aware." Gabriel said. "I figured Flash was here before."

"Heh, still not talking about Flash, but he was in our group." Trish said, wings flapping harder. "Our group was awesome, large and a real family. Sure we didn't always get along, hell we rarely got along, which meant we were a lot like a family. Well, we went to the Hoenn league pokemon tournament. That's when it happened.

"We were shot at, by someone with a gun, who killed" Trish paused, wings flapping even harder, beginning to raise higher, "He killed-killed-killed them killed them, killed them with a g-gun," Flapping harder, now high off the ground above me, "Killed them dead, all dead, shot with a gun and"

"Trish!"

"Dead, killed dead, with a gun and shot, then killed dead—"

"TRISH!" Darheel and Gabriel both shouted. Trish stopped, only then noticing how high she had been flying. She quickly fluttered back down beside the two of them, sighing.

"Sorry about that, I-I was, I mean I am"

"Lady Trish, there is no need for you to apologize." Darheel said. "I too know of the pain of the past, and how even reliving it for a moment can drive you nearly insane."

"Past pain, that's something else we have in common!" Trish said. "In our first group, everyone had a bad past, not just a few people, everyone! Over twenty pokemon, and none of them had an easy life? Not only that, the only people who heard all of their stories, first or second hand, were me and Angela. What do a team full of pokemon with bad pasts, and Angela have in common?"

"It t'would not seem that there is any thing to connect Lady Angela with the tragic pasts of her pokemon." Darheel said. "Mew the grand God or Goddess may have plans for our Lady, but they are beyond our comprehension."

"Uh, I might be wrong about this, but I should suggest it. What if Angela was supposed to help them?" Gabriel asked. "If not help them, unite them, or give them someone they could trust?"

"Why would the legendary want that?" Trish asked.

"I dunno, but it must involve us also." Gabriel said. "Think about it, we've all been brought here for a reason! Trish, you've observed everything, you know what I'm saying might be true."

"If that is what is true about the group that came before us," Darheel said, "Then what about the group that is here now?" Trish paused.

"I may have an idea about that."

* * *

Later that evening, we had stopped for the night. While me, Michael, Anna, Saya, and the other nimrods ate, the Worthless Rejects sat behind us talking.

"Guys, I decided it was time to increase our ranks." Trish said to the others, "So I have invited three others to join us."

"Who are these new pokemon who wish to join the ranks of the organization that is not the New Chu Order!" Pecha asked.

"You know, we're standing right here." Gabriel said, "We're not invisible." All the Worthless Rejects were in a circle, with Darheel, Quintcel, and Gabriel behind Trish.

"More members, always a positive." Iggy said, "Welcome in my insect and water-type friends."

"How do you know that we possess insectoid qualities?" Darheel asked, "You can not see."

"I don't need to see, I can hear. You're a Scyther, your left wing is slightly smaller then your right and makes a different noise." Iggy said.

"We need new members." Streak said, "Without them, like water, our group will stagnate."

"Do you have any analogies that don't involve water?" Trish asked. "Ugh, don't care. Look, they're in, because we're going to need them in our group. I was talking with Gabriel and Darheel, and we noticed something weird." She turned to Quintcel. "You may not know what we're talking about, but basically—"

"No, I know." Quintcel said, "I was listening."

"You were listening?" Trish asked. "I was fluttering there, I didn't see you."

"I'm always listening." Quintcel replied. "I agree, there is a conspiracy at work." Trish sighed.

"Of course you do. Well, what we discovered is that there is some kind of manipulations being done to our group. Our friends have been killed, and we believe it has something to do with Angela."

"What could it have to do with Angela and not Pecha!" Pecha shrieked.

"Your friends were killed?" Iggy asked, "I'm so sorry."

"I'm not." Rush said, "I'm sad they died, but I'm going to be positive and up beet. That way, they're not really dead, they're alive in me and through me."

"Not the point!" Trish snapped. "The point is, weird stuff happens. As you guys, well most of you know, Enfer was Angela's mother. Uh, Enfer was an Arcanine in our group, just so you know guys."

"No need to explain to us." Quintcel said.

"What ever. Anyways, what are the chances you would meet your mother you've never met, who just happened to be reborn as the pokemon owned by your trainers cousin?" Trish asked.

"No idea." Iggy said. "I'd guess not common?"

"In one year, we were shot at, stalked, ran into a startling amount of reborns, and Angela became human again!" Trish said. Gabriel opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. "On top of that, Charlotte met a Suicune, and Angela got blasted by green Celebi energy. There is something, a plan, at work. I don't know what it is, but I think we need to prepare."

"If there is a plan, it's like fighting the tide." Streak said. "How do we manage to fight the tide?" Trish grinned, or sort of. I don't really know how one grins with a beak.

"We train. We train ourselves, without trainers. We turn ourselves into an army, a small army, but our ranks will grow." By now, everyone was starring at Trish, listening. "Darheel, you'll be trained by Angela, but the rest of us will not be. We have to be our own trainers.

"All of these events are headed towards some predestined end. An end I'd bet will be violent, and will leave many of us dead. If we prepare now though, while we can't avoid it, maybe we wont die. Instead, if there is a day when we're forced to confront some great adversary, we'll fight, and we'll win."

"I-I don't want to fight." Rush said, smile wavering.

"If Rush does not fight, I will not either." Pecha said.

"Lady Trish has a point though." Quintcel said, "We need to be prepared for the enemy. She's right, it's coming, something is coming and we could all end up killed. We need to be ready to kill, and we need to know that we could die. I will train with you Trish, I will fight."

"I'm in too." Iggy said, smirking. "I can't see, but I'm still the best at what I do. If only I knew what that was."

"If we were together, then surely the ocean will quake against us." Streak said. "I will help you as well." Gabriel sighed.

"I may just be a Totodile with a new trainer, no friends, and a grass-type fetish, but I think you're all nuts." He smiled, "At the same time, I want in. Lets kick the mother fuckers ass all over dream land."

"While I will be training with Lady Angela" Darheel said, "I will work with you as well. I will die to protect my lady." Trish smiled, and turned back to Pecha and Rush.

"That leaves you two." Rush and Pecha looked at each other.

"If-if I can help someone, and don't, then I have done something wrong." Rush said, "I will help."

"If Rush agrees, then I who is Pecha will as well."

"Then we're all in agreement." Trish said, "We'll fight."

"What if we have to fight the Legendaries?" Rush asked. Trish paused.

"Then we kill them."


	39. Anna Evolves

**AN:** I ment to update, but I did not have internet. I am sorry. Anyways, plot chapter! All of Porygons dialouge was written in Binar, which will not appear in this chapter as FF will erase all numbers. If you are curious as to what he said, it's a series of ones and zeros.

**XXXIX: Anna's Evolution**

We were a day or two away from Goldenrod City, and it was still freaking cold. Michael and me were shaking against each other, while Charlotte and Desiree had just put on long sleeves. Virgil was scowling, but then again he was always scowling.

"This is miserable." Michael said.

"Yes it is. I don't know how people can live here. I mean, how can you live on a continent where the temperature isn't the same each day?"

"No idea."

"Well, at least I have some positive news." I said. I held up my pokedex for Michael to see. "According to this, Anna is one level away from evolving."

"That's great! Weird, I would have figured she'd have evolved sooner with you for her trainer." I responded to this light hearted jab by punching Michael in the stomach with all of my might. Michael fell to his knees, wheezing for breath, as I flipped him off.

Anna turned to me, and leapt up to my shoulder.  
"Is it true I'm close to evolving?" Anna asked, "Because, I'm not sure I want to

evolve." I laughed softly.

"You'd enjoy being a Grovyle." I said. "When I evolved, long story, it was incredible. A surge of energy, and I grew to be one and a half feet tall, so huge! Besides, you early said you wanted to evolve."

"I thought I did, but now that it's close, it's…frightening. I mean, what if I don't like having a leaf grow out of my head!"

"Anna, your skin is half scales, half grass." I said. "Your tail is essentially a thick leaf. How will growing a new leaf be so much worse?"

"I wont be able to ride on your shoulder anymore." Anna said. "Even if I was small enough, Grovyle has talons for feet. Wouldn't that hurt you?"

"Meh, I can take pain, I'm not like Michael." I said. "Besides, if you evolve you'll be stronger. If you don't want to evolve…I wont stop you, but I'd like for you too." Anna sighed.

"I want to also, I just wish it wasn't scary." Anna said. "I will evolve, and when I do, I want you to tell me something."

"What?"

"Tell me about your time as a pokemon. All about it, your entire story, leave nothing out."

"Alright, it's a deal." Anna leapt off of my shoulder, landing in front of me. Gabriel came over to meet her.

"So, you might be evolving soon, that's good." Gabriel said, "If you did that though, we'd no longer be the same size!"

"Uh, yeah that would be a tragedy, who are you again?" Anna asked. "You talk to me as if you know me, but I really don't know you."

"I'm Gabriel! In your team, Michael is my trainer in name only. We've talked at least three times, I've told you my name every single one of them. You don't give me eye-contact, I want to hump your grass-type brains out."

"What's humping?" Anna asked. Gabriel opened his mouth, and closed it just as fast, choosing not to reply.

"It's something wonderful. The most wonderful thing in the whole world." Gabriel said, "Even more so then sugar."

"Then you can do it by yourself if it's so wonderful." Anna replied. "Please leave me alone."

"Why?" Gabriel asked, "Why don't you like me?"

"I barely know you," Anna listed, "You act creepy around me, you use words I don't understand, and your dick is erect when we talk."

"I can fix all of those problems." Gabriel said, "Wait, my dick was only erect the first time we talked."

"It counts as every time." Anna replied. "Now please leave me alone."

After that, we walked in relative silence for another hour. The day was cold, and the wind kept blowing wet air across us, so by noon we were all damp. My legs also burned, and I desperately wanted a bed to lay in. Still a long way out of Goldenrod.

"What's that?" Desiree asked, pointing. A building, a little ways away, but coming into view. "I think that's the Johto Daycare."

Yep, it was. An ugly cement building, with a large fenced in area, designed to care for the pokemon of lazy trainers. A disgrace to all actually hard working trainers.

"Let's check it out." I said.

"Why, I thought you hated daycare's." Michael said.

"I do. Lazy trainers whose pokemon lay eggs, sometimes don't pick up the egg. I want to see if they have one they'll give away."

* * *

The DayCare Center was air conditioned. Full blast, freezing me and Michael. The waiting room had a couch, and a counter for the day care workers. Unfortunately, it was empty.

Their was a TV mounted in the corner of the room, turned onto the Johto News Network, currently showing breaking news.

"This just in, the government of Isshu has been toppled by Communist dissonance. We bring you footage from the new government representative." The footage cut away, to a man dressed in a military uniform.

"Isshu is dead, and the Country of Isshu is no more!" The military man snapped in broken standard dialect. "We are now Communist Peoples Republic of Unova. You will know of us now as Unova, no Isshu! We will continue pokemon league, as glorious peoples Communist leader likes league!"

"That's great!" I proclaimed.

"Ang, their government has been overthrown" Michael said, "The people are now living under a dictator, and you're saying it's great?"

"Well, they're keeping the pokemon league active. That's what's important." I said. Michael just shook his head, and mumbled something about messed up priorities.

WHAM! We all turned, as the door flipped open. A girl in a cape(?) walked in, using a walking stick for some reason.

"I proclaim my arrival!" She proclaimed.

"Of course you do." I said, "Uh, you are?"

"I am the incredible, undefeated Savina!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Seriously, who wears a cape?

"All it's going to do is get stuck in the door, or wrapped around your legs!" I said. "Why would you want to wear a cape?"

"Eeeeexcuse me!" She replied. It was at that moment I realized I'd just said my thoughts out loud. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood, otherwise I would add you to my list of defeats, you small brained, small breasted twit!"

"Do these look small!" I snarled.

"Thank you for preserving the dignity of our group." Michael said, sinking down in his seat.

"What dignity?" Charlotte asked.

"What are breasts?" Anna asked.

"Can I help you?" We all flipped, to the daycare woman behind the counter. She looked confused by all of us, not sure that I blamed her. "We heard shouting, so…"

"Uh, yeah" I said, standing up and holding Anna. "My name is Angela Duncan, and I—" Savina walked by, crushing my foot with her walking stick. I bit my bottom lip, eyes watering.

"I'm Savina woman" She said, "And I am aware that you give away unwanted eggs—" I shoved Savina into the wall, causing her to stumble.

"You give away unwanted eggs." I said, "I wanted to see if you had any that you were about to—" Savina tried to swing her walking stick into me, only to discover Virgil stopping her. "….About to give any more eggs away?"

"You will not lay another finger upon Angela." Virgil said. Savina just nodded.

"We-we have one egg." The woman said, "I do not know of what species, we just found it under a tree. We only have one though."

"That's okay, I'll take it." Savina pulled herself up beside me.

"No, I Savina the Undefeated will take the egg. I am a far better, undefeated trainer."

"What does being undefeated have to do with anything?" I asked. "I've only been defeated a few times" Conveniently they were in stories I forgot to tell you about my dear listener. "I'm an attentive trainer." The woman sighed, and smiled.

"You know what, both of you take the egg, battle, and whoever wins gets to keep it." She said. "That way, you get an egg, I get you out of my daycare. That way, every one wins." I shrugged.

"I'm game if you're game." I said. Savina laughed, pulling her cape around her.

"I am Savina the Undefeated, who is undefeated. I have never lost!" No, really? "I shall defeat you, take that egg, and continue on my long journey to pokemon champion of Johto."

"We'll see." I said, "Outside of the daycare, one on one. Deal?"

"Deal."

* * *

"Why did you not come to my aide?" I asked Michael, while going through Anna's moves in my head. "I could have used your aide."

"I was betting with Charlotte who would win the fight." Michael said. "My money was on you, since I know how much you kick ass, and if I bet against you, you'd break my nose."

"I'm glad we know each other so well." I said. Savina was across from me, flipping through pokeballs, looking for which to use. Anna was sitting beside me, Gabriel came over to her.

"So, you think you're going to win?" Gabriel asked her. Anna shrugged.

"I assume so, but if not, it wont be the end of the world."

"I'll be rooting for you." Gabriel said.

"I have decided who it will be who defeats you." Savina announced, standing up. "Let us begin."

"Alright" I said, "Anna, you're up."

"Yes, and now quiver at my pokemon." Savina said, tossing out a pokeball. Out popped a Porygon? A cape and a Porygon, this lady is weird. Anna just stared at the human construct that was supposed to be a pokemon.

"Uh, hi my name is Anna." Porygon looked Anna in the eye, and replied.

"" I might have said a 1 where I meant a 0, but I think that's what he said. Anna looked at me, and I just shrugged.

"Pound!" I said. Anna ran, leapt, and pounded her fist between Porygon's eyes. Porygon tackled, or rather thrust his body foreword. This would have worked well if Anna hadn't been holding onto Porygon's face.

Anna began absorbing energy as Porygon continued to tackle, trying to knock her off.

"Discharge." Savina yelled. A cloud of electricity shot off of Porygon. Anna went stiff, and fell off, tackled in mid-fall. Anna loosened up, and landed on all fours.

"That hurt." Anna said.

"" Porygon replied. I'm sure he meant it too. Anna absorbed quickly, and quick attacked into him.

"Sharpen!" Savina yelled. Porygon suddenly became higher resolution, no I'm not joking, and his stats changed. Anna responded by pounding him with her tail.

"Energy ball." I shouted. Anna formed a ball of green grass energy, and shot it at point blank range. Porygon was consumed in a bright green explosion, and was knocked a little ways back.

"Single beam! Use that, it'll hurt her." Savina shouted.

"" Porygon responded. By now, Anna had crawled on him, and was just pounding him, but he wouldn't bruise! Except, could he bruise? Come to think of it, what the hell is a Porygon any ways?

Porygon discharged again, and tackled Anna into the dirt. Anna didn't scream, as Porygon pinned her down.

"Psybeam"

"Another Energy Ball." I shouted. Porygon fired purple energy out of its forehead, as Anna shot off another ball. Her head began to bleed, but the beam was interrupted in an explosion, allowing her to dash away. "Now quick attack!" Anna zipped, and slammed sideways into Porygon, toppling him upside down.

"" Anna quick attacked again, causing Porygon to spin in mid-air like an upside down top. She absorbed rapidly from the spinning Porygon.

"Again Porygon!" Porygon again began with the Psybeam, spinning and firing it in a circle. Anna dropped to her belly, continuing to absorb. Finally, Porygon stopped spinning and flipped upright. It looked tired, or I think it did, I don't know.

"You could have stopped spinning before." Anna mumbled.

"Leer" Anna leered at Porygon, who suddenly tackled her, and knocked her on her ass. She tried to grab onto the bottom of Porygon, who responded by slamming her into the earth.

Anna dropped, just as Porygon discharged again. She rolled away, then leapt directly at Porygon's head, pounding and landing on its head.

"Recover!" Savina ordered.

"" Porygon replied. Anna raised her arms, forming an even larger energy ball. She smiled softly.

"I know you threw this battle. You could have discharged me, but didn't." Anna said, "Thank you for this."

" " Porygon replied.

Anna fired, causing a bigger explosion then before. She was tossed back, hitting the ground hard but quickly pushed herself up again. Porygon though collapsed, eyes closed, and in low resolution. The battle was mine. Savina handled it well.

"My life is over!" She shouted. "I do not deserve this cape!"

"Angela!" Anna said to me.

"I do not deserve this stick!" She withdrew Porygon, "I do not deserve the egg."

"Angela, I feel weird."

"That's great." I said to Anna, "We won! You won us an egg, and—" Anna began to glow bright white. "And my God, she's evolving!" Michael and the others rushed over beside me.

Anna's size tripled, as leaves appeared around her wrists. Her feet changed into talons, and a long leaf grew out of her head. Finally, the glowing died down. Anna's eyes were wide, as she looked herself over.

"I'm a-a Grovyle!" Anna said. I laughed, grabbed her, and kissed her beak.

"You did it! You evolved!" I yelled, spinning with her.

"Angela, I think I'm going to be sick."

* * *

"It's beautiful." I said to the others, rubbing the egg again. An hour later, we were walking again, Anna evolved and me with an egg.

"What do you think it is?" Michael asked me. I shrugged. The egg was black, yellow, and blue, in a pattern. Not sure though what the pattern was, I'd scene it before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Something wonderful." I replied. Behind me, Anna kept trying to balance on her new talons, walking slowly.

"Oh crap!" Anna started to fall, only for Gabriel to grab her.

"I got ya."

"Thanks Gabriel." Anna said. "Still getting used to this me, new me. It's a little weird."

"Don't worry." Gabriel said, "You're still you, just bigger and with new feet." Anna smiled at this.

"You're right. I hope you evolve some day soon Gabriel."

"I hope I do too.


	40. Watchers

**XL: Watchers**

"So, what do you think it will be?" Michael asked me. I shrugged, rubbing the egg harder.

"If I had to guess, I'd say Mareep. It's got the right coloring, it's native to Johto." I rubbed it again. "I think it's warm."

"Could sell it so much." I heard Charlotte mumbled from behind us. I laughed softly.

"If you say that again." I said to Charlotte, "I'll break every bone in your body, and then I'll break them again." Charlotte mumbled something else, then went quiet. While we walked, a flying-type flew above us, looking down.

If I had looked up, I'd have seen that it was a Honchkrow. What I wouldn't have seen was a small metal band attached to its leg, with a very small camera on it.

* * *

"So, this is our group?" Kelsey asked, smirking. "This is the great threat to the Goddess herself? They're nothing, teenagers!"

"Not all of magius them." Moslow whispered, "Mismagius girl named Charlotte ius twenty."

"The boys are sexy." Archer said, licking his lips. "The other one in particular, not the red head. I'd kill to have him for an hour on my table."

"Perrin had better be safe." Grace said. "If he is hurt, even slightly, I will rip their throats out with my bare hands."

"You could do no such thing." Travis growled at her. "You're too weak, just good at spying on kids."

"Keep your comments to yourselves." Alexander and Phoebe said to them. "We are here to discuss the acquisition of the next five emotions, and our interactions with this group. We are not here to fight with each other."

Their were seven of them. Seven individuals dragged from the dregs of society by the Tabernacle of The Sun, to make up the 7th Order. The 7th Order was a part of the Tabernacle not know to most, and with good reason, it went out of its way to be unknown.

The 7th Order furthered the interests of the Tabernacle. They did this even if what they did was questionable, illegal, or immoral, if they considered what they did to be necessary. Each one was dressed in a different colored jump suite, and five of them had pokemon with them, Moslow and Grace being the only exceptions.

They met every week in this room in the main office of the Tabernacle. The room was designed to be impenetrable, sound proof, and even had it's own emergency air supply. On the wall two lines were printed

**Dea est vita**

**Dea est nex**

"I'm to bored to discuss." Archer said, his Seviper Krako curled between his legs. "I want to do something. Poison someone, maybe go out and have a good fuck."

"Shut up you butt fucking faggot." Travis snapped. Behind him "We need to select a sixth sacrifice. We've finished the five sacrifices given, we need to begin the five taken. I say, kill one of those five, kill the blonde."

"No" Alexander and Phoebe said. "We will not sacrifice them, the goddess has not approved of it." Alexander's Absol, and Phoebe's Alakazam sat behind them, staring at their trainers. If you looked closely, you could see their heads were glowing faintly.

"The goddess has given us instructions. The sixth emotion will be taken in Goldenrod City, the emotion of Fear. We will only take the next five emotions from cities that the Duncan girl is visiting."

"Why on Earth would we do that?" Kelsey asked, stroking the head of her Ninetales. The Ninetales and Kelsey had the same expression, void of all emotions but arrogance. "They will know we're coming."

"Precisely, we want them to know we're coming. The Duncan girl and her friends will learn to fear us." Alexander and Phoebe said. "If we attack them directly, they may confront us, or be able to prove our involvement to the authorities. This we do not need."

"Why is fear so important?" Archer asked, licking venom off of his fingers. "I mean, I prefer lust myself, but I don't mind fear. Why though is it so important the Duncan girl fears us?"

"It's a two fold battle field you stupid fuck." Travis said, running his hands across his shaved head. Behind his seat stood his Electivire, sleeping standing up. "We need to keep them scared, the mental war will be won if they're weak like that!"

"Weak, strong, I don't care." Archer pouted. "I just want to have fun, when can we do that?"

"Fun is irrelevant." Alexander and Phoebe replied. "You may do what you wish when our mission is finished, but not a moment before." Archer began to whine more at this, only to be zapped by Travis.

"F-F-Fear isaguis miost im-mportant." Moslow said, eyes wide open but seeing nothing. Moslow did not have a pokemon, or at least not one they could see. Moslow possessed a Mismagius, one that was logged in his brain. It had been their since he was a small child, and was in no interest of leaving. Due to the ghost in his brain, Moslow had little personality, or sanity left, half his mind was that of the Mismagius. While this left him with the emotional stability of a Raticate that was on fire, he had one talent. Moslow could see into peoples minds.

Not read them, but literally see into them, a side-effect of the Mismagius. Even the images on the screen let him see into them, nothing could stop him from seeing them.

"The boiusy is feeling Mismagius lust for maghe guirl" Moslow whispered, "Both bmioys ares-s. They Mismag red-haired o-o-one is malso af-afraid, that he wont be-be mable toooo protius the Duncan girl, and that he'll disssssapoint someone. No, two someone's! The other boy is…he wonders if things will get better soon. The blonde girl wonders about the future, misand isss afraid of it Mismagius, but k-knows she can't admit it. Fear, fear of failure. Mismagius other girl is a-gius-fraid for som-someone named Tommy. I-I mag-must stop."

"You see, he gets to stop." Grace said, twirling her short brown hair between her fingers. "Perrin is out there, my brother is out there, and could get harmed by those monsters. I can not bring him back though, because we need to spy on them!"

"Silence Grace, Moslow you may rest." The twins said. "We must know our enemies, and exploit their fear. WE need them to not eat, not sleep, to know they will never have a moments peace, until the Goddess finally eliminates the girl and reclaims her place in the heavens. This is not our only task for today though." The other five turned to the twins. Alexander pressed a button on a remote, lowering a projection screen. An image appeared, of a burned building.

"The Burnt Tower?" Kelsey asked. "I like the sentiment, a world engulfed in flames, but why on Earth would we need to go there? There are no sacrifices there of all places, unless you want an emotion from a tour guide." Ninetales snorted out a few embers.

"It's not about a sacrifice. This is a special assignment from the Goddess herself." The twins said. "We are to recover an item, a very special item." Alexander clicked the remote, changing the slide. "This."

The picture was of nothing. A stone platform, probably in the basement of the tower, but their was nothing on it. Except…their was dust on the platform. All over except in a small circle. No dust had fallen on that circle, even though the platform hadn't been touched in a long time.

"There is nothing there!" Travis yelled.

"W-What do yoagius me-an?" Moslow asked, shaking slightly. "B-Bottle Mismagius there is agius a bottle. Its purple."

"Quiet right, there is a bottle there." The twins said. "Those without psychic, dark, or ghost-type pokemon or abilities can not see it. This bottle, as the Goddess explained, does not exist in the physical plane. It is a bottle made out of time itself, imprisoning a creature inside who can only be imprisoned in a single moment in time. With help from any of the three types we just mentioned, you can see and move the bottle, but not for long. Even with assistance, if a human or pokemon were to touch the bottle, they would begin to age rapidly. If they were to move it, they would turn into dust within seconds."

"What is so important that we need this?" Archer asked. "The bottle would be a much better toy then whatever is inside of it. Imagine it, we drop it into a crowd full of people, and since they can't see it, they keep touching it. They take years off of their life without ever seeing it coming. Sounds like a fun weekend!" Krako stuck its tongue out, licking Archers ankle.

"What's inside is a wraith." The Twins said. "We had no idea what that meant either, but the Goddess explained it. A wraith is a member of the same species as the Goddess, who willingly left the heavens and bound themselves to the Earth. This would allow them to use all their abilities, without rules, and would amplify their powers! The only problem is, it only works if they possess a human body, a human who would act as a conduit essentially. The same beings who threw the Goddess out of heaven imprisoned the wraiths, building the time bottles to trap them. The Goddess states that this is the only one she wants us to release."

"What's so special about this one?" Travis asked. "Better question, what is this wraith what's its form?"

"We do not know, beyond it is a spirit of fire."

"Fire for the win." Kelsey laughed to herself. Grace reached over, and smacked her on the back of the head. Her Ninetales then burned Graces glove off, but only singed the skin. "Do not touch me again, your bird isn't here to protect you."

"Your fox has to sleep some time." Grace said, "I don't. I'll wait until then."

"Both of you be quiet!" The twins shouted. "The Goddess chose this wraith because this wraith served as her right hand in the incident that threw them from the heavens. We have been instructed to not only possess this wraith, we have been told who will be its host?"

"Pray tell who? I hope its me." Archer said, smiling.

"The host will be one of the four with the Duncan girl." The twins said. "We will kidnap them when the girl enters Olivine city. The girl will be seeking this orphanage," Alexander clicked the remote, "the New Hope orphanage, that will hold the records of her sisters adoption. The orphanage is located on the outskirts of the city, in a remote area. When they arrive, we will cause a distraction of some kind, to be decided at a later date. At that point, we will acquire one of the four."

"Why only one?" Kelsey asked.

"Heh, if we kidnapped them all, someone might notice." Travis said. "Hell, kidnapping one teenager without making a scene is hard enough, but five? Besides, if we take only one, we're guaranteed that they'll come after us."

"The one that we acquire will be given mental treatment." The Twins said. "The treatment will break down the subjects mental barriers, turning his mind into mush, perfect for the wraith."

"Why risk all this superfluous crap?" Grace asked. "Why not just give the wraith to one of us who isn't Archer?" Archer flipped her off, though Grace didn't notice or care.

"E-emotional attachment to magius the s-subject." Moslow said.

"That's correct." The twins said, "If they have an emotional attachment to the subject, then their judgement is likely to be clouded. They will act irrationally, and will try to retrieve the subject. When they come, we will be ready. Our other goal for this is the Duncan girl, a mental battle."

"A mental battle?" Grace asked again. "We've got a subject waiting in Goldenrod to challenge her to a mental battle, one that he will probably loose! Why do we need to set up another one?"

"We will not, the wraith will." The twins said, "There is something in the Duncan girl, in her mind or her soul, we do not know. It is something that the Goddess needs though to finish her return. The only way to retrieve it, is to first draw it to the surface of her mind. The way to do that is through repeated mental battles. Second is the actual extraction, which can only be done by someone who is like the Goddess."

"The wraith is the same species as the Goddess." Grace said.

"Thanks queen obvious." Travis muttered. "I say don't even wait, just go and do it now. Kidnap one of them now, have 'em broken down, and turn them into a wraith right now!"

"No! We will do as the Goddess says." The twins snapped. "This is her plan, we will follow it just as she says, any objections from any of you?" The others said nothing, other then some words of agreement. "Good, are their any other matters we need to attend to?"

"Our branch in Kanto is under attack from the government." Grace said. "A Senator named Patterson, wants our private files to be released to the government. Several operations in Kanto haven't gone well, a few shipments of cargo seized, nothing big. Still though, it could mean bad things for us."

"What are his hobbies?" The twins asked.

"He likes to bike in the woods, in areas with poorly marked trails, ravines, and full of rocks."

"Compound fracture." They said, "Both legs."  
"Understood."

"Well, with that" The twins said, "I think we can call this—" Alexander froze in mid word. Phoebe though was shaking, her mouth slowly opening and closing. Jaw clenched, she screamed.

"Gah! Oh my God, what are you doing? You people are planning the deaths of so many, how can you…NO! Stay out, stay ou-out of mmmy mind grah!" Alakazam's head glowed bright purple, and Phoebe went quiet. The other five didn't even look up.

"Sorry about that, this happens sometimes." The twins said. "Even the strongest group think is not indestructible. Now are their any other matters for us to attend too?" The others shook their heads, still not looking at the twins. "Well, then I think we should adjourn for today."


	41. The Storm I

**AN: **I welcome you to one of the last two chapters of the year. I hope you enjoy.

**XLI: The Storm I**

"I'm just saying it's probably the best movie ever made." I said. "I mean, it's subtle, well acted, and it really makes you think."

"There is nothing that makes me think in Robocop." Michael said, "It's a robot shooting people with a gun that makes lightsabers seem realistic by comparison."

"You just don't fully appreciate it." I mumbled. Above us, the sky was a mess of clouds, blocking out the sun. Just what we needed, rain and cold. Anna was shivering as she rode on my back. How well did she fit on my back? Not very, her talons kept digging in deep.

"I don't like the cold." Anna said to me.

"Meh, you're just too weak!" Saya said, some how appearing on my shoulder. How did she get there without me noticing and with no legs? No idea! "Now, I know water-types are better in cold, but you need to be also. What kind of warrior shakes in the cold?"

"I'm not a warrior, I'm a plant-lizard and I want to be warm." Anna retorted.

"None of you understand the joy of being cold!" Saya said, "If I had my way, you'd all be nude, and we'd all be carrying heavy blocks."

"Excuse me for intruding Lady Saya" Darheel said, coming up beside us, "But how would you plan to carry blocks if you do not possess arms or shoulders?"

"My own awesome would be able to carry them for me." Saya replied. I couldn't help but laugh at this.

"Why is she laughing, it wasn't funny." Charlotte mumbled. Charlotte and Desiree, along with both their pokemon, walked behind the rest of our group, away from us. "I just, I don't get her."

"Why do you think that is?" Desiree asked.

"Maybe because Angela is shorter!" Iggy suggested, "Or because Charlotte is to fat."

"Good idea Iggy, maybe you need to be shorter and fatter, then you'd get her."

"I don't want to get her." Charlotte snapped, "I want my licensee back, and I want to travel without the rest of them."

"Really M'lady?" Quintcel asked, "I find them to be very amusing from a distance."

"I'd also like to be able to go back to not understanding Pokemon." Charlotte said. "Nothing good comes from it. I can barely sleep because what used to be just random back ground noise has turned into voices I don't want to hear. I mean, do you know what its like to understanding pokemon."

"Just Chinchou." Desiree replied, "I'd kill though to have what you have. You got to meet Suicune! You can understand pokemon! Do you know what I'd give for that? I'd cut off my left boob!"

"Please never give an example again." Charlotte said, "I'm begging you, please never again. Anyways, why did Suicune make it so I can understand pokemon? What possible thought could have been going through that dog-ice cube monstrosities head? Ugh, I don't know or care. I just want it all to stop."

"Why do you think that is?" Desiree asked. "If it all stopped, wouldn't it be boring?"

"I could use some boring." Charlotte mumbled. "…Is that what I think it is?"

"Goldenrod City" I whispered. "It's so…big."

There are big cities, really big cities, and then there is Goldenrod City. Now, admittedly Lillycove City (at the time the second largest city on Earth) was almost as big, but I didn't remember it like that. Of course, that's because I was an Umbreon at the time so everything was huge to me.

Goldenrod City is a sprawling, all encompassing, metropolitan nightmare. It spread out in all directions, only stopped from moving west by the ocean. Tall buildings jutted out every which way, bizarre square teeth on a misshapen mouth.

From the moment we stepped foot on pavement again, we felt it. More specifically, we felt dwarfed. All around us were people, swarming us with little notice. They didn't seem to notice the quickening wind, darkening clouds, or our group. I usually wouldn't have cared it they noticed us, till a fat woman knocked me on my butt.

"Watch it you bitch!" I shouted.

"Shall I break her neck?" Virgil asked.

"Yes!"

"NO!" Michael yelled, "No neck breaking!"

"Spoil sport." I pouted. Michael helped me back up to my feet, and I dusted myself off.

"Her head probably did more damage to the cement, then the cement to her head." I heard Charlotte mutter. I ignored the crack. We maneuvered through the crowed, avoiding the people, and I resisted accidentally knocking Charlotte down. Or into the path of a speeding bus.

"We need to find a hotel." Michael said, "It's going to start raining soon, and I'd like to not get wet." Thunder roared above all of us, causing Saya of all pokemon, to jump into my arms.

"What happened to just being tough?" Anna asked from my back.

"Being tough wont stop you from conducting electricity." Saya retorted.

"Charlotte should be more worried," I said, "She's taller then the rest of us." Charlotte pulled her fist back to hit me, only to have Quintcel flutter up and grab onto her arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" Charlotte growled.

"I don't want you to hit someone, and I don't want you to get hit by lightning." Quintcel said. Charlotte paused, and smiled.

"Thanks big guy." We navigated the busy streets, ducking around the occasional pokemon battle. We made our way to a giant, but cheap looking hotel, if those two things go together.

"Is that painted puke?" I asked.

"Puke! The color I need!" I heard Desiree shout. "We need to stay here, this building is inspiring me." Their was a loud crashing sound. We looked up, and watched as a large piece of glass fell and shattered twenty feet away from us.

"That's definitely our calling card." Michael mumbled.

* * *

Our carpet was sticky as we crossed the threshold of our room. Little pieces of carpet were pulled off onto my shoes.

The room was brown, orange, and red, all neon. I bet you didn't know they made a neon brown, but that's what I would describe our carpet as. I sat down on the left of the two beds, which crunched when I sat down on it.

"That's a good sign." I said. Anna jumped up, landed on a pillow, and fell asleep. Saya sat beside me, looking out the window. Thunder roared again, and Saya started to shake. She pressed up against me, something I hardly noticed since I was rubbing the egg.

"Th-The thunder, can't get us in here right? I mean, the electricity lightning stuff can't get us here?"

"That's wonderful Anna" I said, "Look, something is moving in here."

"Not that I'm scared of the lightning, but it's-it's just unsettling. We're so high up, we're near the clouds." Darheel came and stood beside us, staring out the window.

"Do not be afraid good lady Saya" He said, "As long as the windows and roof are here, you can not be harmed by the lightning. Besides, even with them gone, I would leap to your aide and protect you from the bolts." Saya nodded, leaning against me, and falling over when I stood up.

"Guys, come here, the egg is shaking!"

"Is this a towel on the window?" Michael asked. The window did indeed have a towel taped on the top of it. Michael grabbed it, and pulled with all of his might. "Crap!" The towel came off, and the window swung open. Saya shrieked. Rain began to pour into the room.

"Michael, the egg is shaking!" I said, rushing over, not even noticing the rain.

"That's great Angela. Virgil, come help me get the window closed." Virgil came, and the two pulled on the bottom of the window, only to watch it not come back. "I think this thing is spring loaded to swing out."

"Ignore that, this egg is shaking! I think it's going to hatch!" I said. By now, the rain was starting to soak me, and the egg. Desiree was behind me, painting this scene, and the Worthless Rejects just watched us. Then Charlotte came over.

"That thing about to hatch? Let me see, I'll—" If the carpet hadn't been so damn sticky, Charlotte probably wouldn't have tripped. Had the rain not been pouring in, I would have easily held onto the egg. Had the window been closed, Charlotte and I wouldn't have gone into that storm. Fortunately, none of those things happened. Yes, fortunately.

Charlotte tripped and fell foreword, hitting me behind me knees. The egg was slicked with rain, and it flew through my fingers, as I fell to the ground. Michael tried to grab for it, but it flew out of his fingers, and out the open window.

"NO!" I shrieked. The others all rushed over to the window, looking to see what happened to the egg. We wouldn't have to wait long.

Slowly, fluttering upward, a Noctowl appeared, holding the egg in its talons. It looked at me for an instant, before flying off into the rain.

Three thoughts went through my mind at once. First, the Noctowl grabbing the egg was so much of a coincidence, it couldn't be one. I don't know how, but that was arranged. Second, I didn't care if it was arranged, I wanted my egg. Third, I had just punched Charlotte in the back of the skull, and I was reigning blows upon her.

"I'll kill you, you fucking bitch! I swear to God I'm going to pound your fucking skull until your brains ooze out your ears!" Charlotte covered her head, trying to flip over, but I had crawled onto her and was holding her down. Michael grabbed my arms, pulling me up. As I struggled to get free, Virgil grabbed me and Michael, holding me so I couldn't escape. "Let me go!"

"I can not permit that." Virgil said.

"Angela, stop and think! You're going to hurt Charlotte!"

"GOOD!" Charlotte looked absolutely terrified. Desiree helped her up, and Quintcel stood in front of her and between me. Darheel moved in front of me, staring down Quintcel.

"Your trainer can not be permitted to harm Lady Charlotte again." Quintcel said.

"You may not touch Lady Angela either good sir." Darheel replied. I stopped squirming against Michael and Virgil, and they let me go.

"Y-You knocked my egg out." I said to Charlotte, using all of my energy not to break down. "Now it's been caught by a-a fucking bird! You have to go out and get it!"

"It's raining out there though, and it's a freaking lightning storm!" Charlotte said, "Plus, if you haven't noticed, Goldenrod is a tad on the big side."

"Do not make jokes!" I screamed. "You will go out and get it, or you can quit traveling with us. How much fucking money will you make then?" Charlotte opened her mouth to retort, but shut it.

"Fine, I'll go find it." Charlotte mumbled. "Come on Quintcel."

"You can't be serious!" Desiree exclaimed.

"Yeah, I can." With that, the two of them headed out into the storm.

* * *

A half an hour later, I was sitting on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Saya was leaning against me, and Anna was curled up on my stomach. Michael lay beside me.

"You shouldn't have sent her out into the storm."

"Had to be done." I replied, "She lost my egg, she can find it." Lightning struck again, and Saya shuddered.

"Yes, she did, but you could have waited until the storm subsided! If Charlotte gets hit by lightning, it won't help you find the egg any sooner."

"Alright, let me use logic, and show you why sending Charlotte out was a bad idea." Michael said, "What if Charlotte finds the egg, it hatches, and whatever pokemon in there sees her?" I opened my mouth, paused, and leapt up. Anna was knocked off my stomach onto the floor, which didn't wake her up. "What are you doing?"

"Going out into the storm!" I said, rushing to the door.

"Wait, let me come with—" I shut the door, and rushed down the hallway.

No doubt by now both Michael and Virgil, possibly Desiree, were following me. I didn't care, I moved down the stairs two at a time, only when I got to the bottom did I notice something.

"Are we going into the storm?" Saya asked.

"Saya? When did you get here?" I asked.

"You were carrying me! You didn't notice, did you?"

"Nope!" I ran out into the storm, still carrying her.

* * *

"I hate lightning, I hate lightning." Saya chanted over and over to herself, trying not to loose it. I wasn't enjoying it much either.

The streets were now deserted, because hurricane force rain was pouring down on us, with heavy wind and lightning just for good measure. I couldn't see far in front of me, but pressed on, body shaking.

"Angela, we need to turn around!" Saya yelled. My clothing was soaked, my skin soaked, my fucking bones were soaked through.

"We're not turning around!" I snapped, "We're finding that egg! You're a warrior, press on!" Lightning struck, the thunder nearly blocking out my voice.

"A warrior also knows not to run head first towards suicide!" Saya screamed. I ignored her, and moved on slowly.

The sidewalks were slick, and the roads were almost overflowing. My shoes were wet and heavy, but I sloshed through the rain. Eventually, I cam upon a tree, and two figures in front of it.

"C-Charlotte? Charlotte!" I shouted, running over with Saya. Charlotte was standing at the base of a tree, using her hat to try and block the rain. Quintcel stood beside her, also looking up. On top of the tree, between two branches, rested the egg. I rushed over beside them, Charlotte only briefly glancing at me.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked me.

"I couldn't let you keep my egg, it might hatch!" I said.

"No concern for me?"

"You could get hit by lightning as far as I'm concerned!" Charlotte mumbled something, and shook her head.

"Quintcel, grab the egg."

"Yes M'lady." Quintcel leapt and moved quickly up the tree branches, grabbing the egg. He tossed it down to me, and I almost lost it again! I did drop Saya, who fell to the ground.

"Great, we got the egg, can we go back inside now?" Saya asked, looking up at me.

"This was your fault!" I shouted at Charlotte, "You managed to screw up dropping an egg!"

"All I told Quintcel was to drop the egg!" Charlotte said, as Quintcel dropped down beside us. "If you had dropped it, it would have been your fault.

"We need to leave Lady Charlotte." Quintcel said.

"I wouldn't have even been here if you hadn't forced me to drop that egg!" I yelled.

"Just me? Did I open the window? Did I make it rain? No, but you blamed me! You blamed me because you're a selfish little bitch who—" Lightning struck, hitting the tree a few feet away from us. It exploded into splinters, sparks, and fire.

"Can we please get out of here!" Saya screamed. We ran off, through the rainy streets.

**AN: **The towel thing actualy happened to me, believe it or not.


	42. The Storm II

**AN: **The final chapter of the year! I'll be back on the 9th of January, untill then enjoy!

**XLII: The Storm II**

We made it to an awning of a closed office building. It was raining even harder, and we couldn't see through the rain, much less find the way back to the hotel. I was holding the egg and Saya against my breast, shaking. Charlotte crouched near me, also shaking hard while Quintcel rubbed her back.

"W-w-why a-are yo-u doing t-t-hat?" Charlotte asked, teeth chattering.

"I know that friction causes heat." Quintcel said, "If I rub you hard enough, you'll heat up I hope." Charlotte smiled.

"T-Thanks Quintcel."

I rubbed my egg rapidly, trying to dry it off and warm it up. Saya watched me, not saying a word.

"Come on come on come on" I mumbled. Nothing, icy cold and hard. Then without warning, a twitch came within. "Yes!"

"Yay, the egg is alive!" Saya said with pride.

"Good, then me coming out here wasn't a complete waste." Charlotte mumbled.

"You knocked my egg out of the window, you owed me." I said. "Even if my egg had been broken, you deserved to come out here."

"Deserved my ass." Charlotte mumbled. For some reason, this comment annoyed me most of all. It wasn't an offensive comment, it wasn't even anything special. Rather, it was when she said it that mattered.

It had been building between us, slowly growing overtime, compounding in both of us. An animosity, filling us both, a loathing that was caused by traveling together even though we couldn't stand each other. Finally, we just couldn't take it anymore, one of us was going to snap. Unfortunately, that one was me.

"What is your problem with me?" I asked her. "Why exactly are you always such a bitch to me?" Saya tried to tell me not to say that, but I couldn't hear just what she was saying.

"A bitch to you?" Charlotte stood up. "A bitch to you! You're a selfish, un-respectfull cunt bucket!" I set the egg and Saya down, leaping to my feet.

"I don't respect you because you're a whiney little nitwit who spends all of her damn time worrying about money!"

"I worry about money because you spend all of it! Without thinking about what we actually need to buy, if a desire pops into your pea brain, you act upon it!" She smirked.

"You're right, and guess what! I'm acting on this one too!" I swung at Charlotte, aiming for her nose or jaw, hoping to shatter her smirking face.

WHAM!" Saya hit me with a water gun, knocking me to my side. Quintcel had grabbed Charlotte's arms, and was holding her back. I looked over at Saya, confused. Slowly, I pushed myself up to my knees.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You were going to hit Charlotte again." Saya said. "You two are fighting all the time, and over nothing! Anna is right, you two need to stop fighting before you pull our group apart. I like Quintcel and Iggy, I don't want them to leave. If Quintcel leaves, whose speaking am I going to laugh at?"

"What Ms. Saya means is that, by fighting you two are creating more problems." Quintcel said. "We are your pokemon, we can see that fighting makes both of you miserable. We want to see you happier, so the obvious solution is to stop you two from fighting." Charlotte looked at me, and my egg.

"I'm willing to at least try talking to you without yelling, even though you're a stubborn—" Quintcel knocked on the side of her head with his horn. "Owe! Sorry." We both sat down, across from each other.

"Alright, we can try." I said. "Can I ask you something?"

"If you want too."

"Why are you so obsessive about money?" I asked. "I mean, we'll always get more, it's just money. It's not that important." Charlotte laughed.

"You don't get it. I'm not obsessed with money you nimrod. It's what I use it on that matters." She made a small whiney noise, but quickly regained her composure. "I'm not a capture specialist because I enjoy it. I mean I do enjoy it, but that's not why I do it. No, it's a profitable enterprise."

"It's an enterprise born from slave trading." I said, only to get shot in the side from Saya. "Ouch!" Charlotte didn't seem to notice. She was staring off somewhere, but not at me.

"I have a brother named Thomas, Tommy. He-He's in a mental hospital, has been ever since my parents died. I have to pay for him, no one can pay for his hospital. If I don't, he becomes a ward of the state and put in a shitty state run hospital. Have you ever seen one of those places?" I didn't respond, I couldn't figure out how too. "Sending him to one of those is sentencing him to eternal purgatory! He deserves that, but-but I can't, I have to pay for this hospital."

"Why didn't you tell us about that before?" I asked Charlotte. "You constantly talked about not keeping secrets. If you had told me about that, I'd have had no objections against—wait. When I told you to keep Quintcel, you were going to sell him to pay for your brother weren't you?"

"Give yourself a prize, you're right." Charlotte replied. "I was able to dig into my savings, and keep Tommy in the hospital for another month, or rather, pay off my late payment from the last month. I've been late on payments ever sense I burned that hotel down, and loosing my catcher license just made things worse for me."

"So, so then you have to travel with me. That's why you and Desiree haven't left the group, even though you can't stand me." I said. "You have no choice."

"Something like that." Charlotte said, looking at the ground. "Heh, I hated my brother growing up, and to a certain degree I still do. When I was six and he was three, he stabbed me in the leg with a pencil. On my eight birthday, he ate one of his own turds in front of my friends. When I was twelve, that was when they tried to put him in school again. We never did figure out how he smuggled in a paring knife, but the girl he attacked needed ten stitches. When I was fifteen, I couldn't live in that house any longer, I told them to sign the emancipation papers or I was calling child services."

"They did?"

"Without a second thought. They-I was ignored after Tommy was diagnosed as…well as nothing. We got a variety of diagnosis, and medicines, but none of them ever did anything. Tommy is immune to pretty much all medicines, and sedatives. He-They looked for "'alternative treatments'" that were all the same, shysters who prayed on their stupidity."

"Why didn't they just put him in a hospital?" I asked.

"Because they wanted to cure him. Even though we still don't what the hell is wrong with him, unless just plain nuts is now a diagnosis!"

"How did you end up taking care of him?" I asked, "You said that your parents died, but…"

"They died in an accident, when I was sixteen. I found out a week later." Charlotte said. "I was given two choices, take control of my brother, or give him over to the state. In spite of all he's done to me, of how terrible he made my life, I put him in a nice hospital in Cianwood. I was already capturing pokemon for fun, but now I did it to pay for him." I didn't say anything at first, just moved me, Saya, and the egg closer to Charlotte. The egg was starting to shake, but I didn't notice.

"I know how you feel." I said. "I've been in positions like you, the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Please."

"I was an Umbreon, I told you that." I said. "When I was, I learned that something bad was going to happen to me and my friends. I didn't know what mind you, just something. I had any number of choices that I could do, and I did nothing. I told no one, until it was too late. That was the single worst decision I made in my life.

"On the day that Michael was supposed to battle in the second round of the Hoenn Championship, my father, a man named Jerry Tagger attacked us. He detonated a bomb, and shot at us using a rifle and armor piercing bullets. My friends…they died around me, while I could do nothing. I had done nothing, and I was paying for it."

"How did you get over it?" Charlotte asked.

"I didn't." I replied. "Things got worse for me from there on. A few days later, I watched my father kill my mother, then kill himself. Finally, I was killed again in a warehouse fire, only to be brought back to life by, well I'm not sure how it worked. I lived again, even though I didn't really want to. I wanted to die again, be with my friends, who I traveled with for a year and yet I barely knew them. I-I killed them, I could have saved them and did nothing. That's something I'll have to spend the rest of my life dealing with."

"Angela, is that true?" Saya asked me. I nodded sadly.

"Heh, if I'd been brave, or a warrior like you Saya, I might have been able to do something. Instead, I was a coward who sat there and did nothing!"

"I'm not a warrior." Saya said. "Not really. I talk big but I'm-I'm afraid of a lot. Like the-the lightning."

"So what if you're scared?" Charlotte asked. "I'm scared all the time, but does that make me less brave? No, makes me smarter. I'm scared to walk out in front of an out of control zeppelin, (a zeppelin?), but if I did I wouldn't be a warrior, I'd be a smear on the road."

"If I were struck by lighting" Thunder roared and Saya shook. The egg was shaking harder, though it barely registered with me. "If I were struck, I'd die. But I don't want to be afraid of it, if people see that they wont think much of me."

"Saya, if they don't think much of you for being afraid of lightning, who gives two fucks what they think?" I asked. "Besides, I like thinking you're afraid of something, you seem less crazy then." Saya just smiled at this, sort of.

"It's weird you know." Charlotte said, "We've both got pain. We've both got Pokemon who care about us. Why do you think that is?"

_Someone probably arranged it._

"No idea." I said. "I'm glad I learned about your past though, because it-it made me feel like"

"You're not alone?" Charlotte asked.

"Something like that." I replied. Charlotte smiled, and the egg began to shake like crazy. This time Quintcel noticed, and pointed.

"Uh, I'm not a good judge on these sorts of things, but should that be moving like it is?" I finally looked, as the egg started to crack.

"Oh-Oh my God." I whispered. "It's hatching! Fuck yes it's hatching!" I couldn't see the others anymore, or hear the rain, all I could see was the egg.

The cracks spread out, as embryonic goo began to leak out a little. I held it on my less wet lap, as it shook and cracked. The goo stunk, and stuck to my clothing, along with little pieces of shell.

"Come on, come on out now." A leg kicked out of the side, knocking out a piece of shell the size of a coin. It was all black, fur matted down with goo. It kept kicking at the air, as a second leg kicked out above it.

This one was blue, with a yellow band around the paw-wrist thing. I smiled, knowing at last what was inside. More egg came off, until finally the pokemon inside fell onto my lap.

"Hello little…girl." I whispered. A Shinx lay in my lap, shivering from the cold. I tried warming it up with my shirt, and Charlotte gave me her hat to put on it. "Thanks."

The Shinx's eyes opened a crack, and it turned to me. Slowly they opened all the way, and I saw…

_A girl, small, young, green hair. Screaming, a man on top of her doing unspeakable things to her. She screamed, and was silenced by a gun shot._

"She's reborn." I whispered. Charlotte looked at me.

"She's what now?"

"Emily." I replied. "She is Emily."

* * *

"Another pokemon?" Not Milotic asked, laughing softly. Not Qwilfish and Mew existed with her, staring down at me and Emily. "Another one! Not only that, but the relative of that damn Mightyena that I killed! Why is this happening to me?"

"Because of—" Qwilfish began.

"I'll tell you why! That damn Supreme Titan, the rest of those Titans, working against me at every opportunity."

"You work against them you moron." Mew said, "Of course they're going to be working against you."

"Maybe we shouldn't be doing this then." Not Qwilfish said. "You have your independence from them my queen. Yet, whenever we act, the other Titans are there to act against us. Why not revel in your freedom? Your followers would gladly join you, even without a plan to overtake the Supreme Titan." Not Milotic laughed.

"They would leave paradise, to come and join me in hell? The other Titans would leave us alone?" She laughed again softly. "I do not want my freedom! Not so long as the Supreme is out there, laughing at me! It's not good enough, not if he doesn't know that I am the one who is fighting him!" Not Milotic looked down at me again. "Let him send her pokemon, send her ally's, send her an army of angels to fight by her side! I will fight them, grapple with them until there is not an once of energy left from me. Even if my soul is destroyed, and scattered among the stars, it will be worth it." Not Qwilfish looked at her with admiration, while Mew rolled its eyes."

"You're out of your mind. I wonder sometimes why I'm working for you." Not Milotic glared at the legendary.

"That's actually a good question. Why are you working with me?"

"I know a winner when I see one, even if they're crazy. Hell, you might need to be crazy to fight the Titans." Mew replied. "Besides, if you eliminate the other Titans and legendary, I'll be the only one left."

"You know, I don't care how often we talk to you." Not Qwilfish said, "I don't trust you." Mew smirked.

"Thinking like that will cause you to live longer."

"I gotta agree." Not Milotic said, "You may be my ally, but I don't understand your actions. Why did you bring the Duncan girl back as an Umbreon, and then send Tagger to go kill her?"

"Because no one would believe I did it." Mew replied.

**AN: **Mew sent Tagger. Felt you guys deserved one good plot twist to end the year.


	43. New Life

**AN: **Well I'm back, and with a new chapter no less! Hold your applause, just enjoy.

**XLIII: New Life**

If you don't remember my dear listener, let me remind you of my friend Shu. Shu was a Mightyena who I was especially close too, due to both of us being reborns and having both gone through a fair amount of tragedy. I came to think of him as a brother, and he once called me his sister, which I found especially sweet given his actual sister.

Shu had a sister named Emily, who died with him, in a way I wouldn't like to mention. I had no idea what happened to her after that, though Shu might have known given his status as a Titan. Truth be told, I wish that I hadn't known what happened to Emily, because I'd have to tell her about her brother.

Why me?

* * *

Emily looked up at me, confused. Her legs kept kicking randomly, I doubt she was in full control. What I remember from being hatched was being cold, hungry, tired, confused, and having a massive headache.

Now, me being the savvy genius I thought I was had bought formula, two bottles, and various other things needed for carrying for a new pokemon. Me being the savvy dumbass that I truly am, left them in our room. So as Emily's lips made a suckling motion, I had nothing to give her.

"We need to get back to our room." I said, "Emily needs liquid-milk, she needs milk right now."

"Why is her name Emily?" Charlotte asked me.

"Because she's a reborn! You know—actually no, you wouldn't know that, you just speak to pokemon, you never were one. Alright, well she's the reborn sister of a friend of mine."

"A pokemon friend?" Charlotte asked.

"No, a human one, except he was a pokemon when I knew him because he died once. He died a second time also, but when I talked to him he had only died once."

"Was he a Luxray?" I gave her a look.

"Why would you think that? Of course not, he was a Mightyena, or he was, now he's an energy being called a Titan."

"Your human friend was a Titan?" Charlotte asked, scratching her head.

"Shu was a reborn Mightyena, not a human, try and keep up. Anyways, Shu told me he had a sister named Emily, who also died when he died, except she wasn't reborn, or not right away. She is now, this is her who is Emily."

"Emily is a little girl, whose a Shinx, whose the sister of Shu, whose a Titan, who was a Mightyena, who was a human?" Charlotte asked.

"You make it sound complex. Shit, I've got to tell Emily her brother is dead, how am I going to break it to her?"

"She's sitting on your lap." Charlotte said. I looked down, but thankfully Emily was asleep for now. "Alright, how do you plan on telling a former human her brother was reborn and died before she was reborn?"

"I'll think of something later." I said. Saya looked down on the sleeping Emily.

"She looks so small, did I look like that once?" Saya asked.

"I would argue you still appear like that Lady Saya." Quintcel said. "Though you probably conduct less electricity then the new Ms. Emily."

"I would hope so." Saya mumbled. "Let's take her back to the room, and away from the lightning."

"Actually, I haven't heard lightning in like twenty minutes." Charlotte said. When she mentioned that, I looked out into the storm for the first time since me and Charlotte started arguing. Or rather, the mild drizzle that had once been a storm.

The rain had almost stopped, and the clouds were lighter (though they hadn't dissipated). The city was strangely calm now, no people and no noise, it was serene. I stood up, pulling Emily closer too me.

"Yeah, let's head back."

* * *

Finding our hotel was a miserable experience, the city was big, cramped, and stupid to navigate. We walked into alleys several times, and then let Saya navigate for us, because she said she "could get us home". She navigated us instead to the ocean, forgetting which home we were headed too. Finally, we let Quintcel navigate on the grounds that he could fly.

After another hour, we made it back. By now, my feet were blistering due to walking in soggy wet shoes. Charlotte was shivering, and her hat hair was matted to her head. Saya though was smiling, which is odd given her lack of a mouth.

"It's great out here don't you think?" Saya asked from my shoulder, "No lightning, just water all around. It's like living in paradise."

"What if you're not a water-type?"

"Who wouldn't want to be a water-type?" Saya asked, completely missing my question. I just sighed.

By the time we got to our room, we had dripped water all the way through the hotel. I reached for the door, only to have it pull open away from me.

"Alright, we'll search the streets around the hotel first, then expand in—" Michael froze in mid speech, almost walking into me. "Uh, never mind."

"You were going out to look for us?" I asked, "Awe, how sweet! Except, why did you wait till now to do it?"

"Michael didn't" Desiree called from behind him, "He and Virgil have been out twice already."

"You didn't want to look for me?" Charlotte asked.

"I once dreamed you died from bursting into flames, and I figured my dream came true and you were hit by lightning. No need to go look for crispy fried Charlotte." I honestly don't know if she was joking or not.

I moved past Michael and sat down on the bed. Emily was shivering, so I wrapped her in part of the dry bed sheet. Michael came over and stared down at Emily, while Anna crawled up close.

"Is this the egg?" Michael asked. I punched Michael in the arm.

"It is a Shinx, and HER name is Emily. Go get me a bottle, formula in it, now!" Anna touched the top of Emily's head softly.

"She's soft." I smiled.

"That she is. She was just born again." Anna looked up at me.

"Again?" Anna asked me.

"Emily is-is a reborn, a human turned Shinx. Like-Like how I wana reborn human turned Eevee."

"But you're human" Anna pointed out, "Does that make you a double reborn? Or an unreborn?" I opened my mouth to respond, but found myself without an answer. "What do you think she'll think about being a Shinx?"

"I dunno." I said. "Truth be told, it was hard for me to become an Eevee. Actually, Darheel you come over here to, there's something I'd like to ask of all of you." Before I could continue, Michael handed me a bottle.

"Thanks." I replied, slipping it into Emily's silent jowls. Even though she was half asleep, she instantly began suckling on the bottle. Darheel looked down at Emily, and reached for her with a blade.

"Touch her with that" I said, "I'll snap it off and gut you from throat to groin." He withdrew it. "Better. Now, Emily might have trouble adjusting to being a Shinx, I could be wrong though, I dunno. It's just…when I was becoming an Eevee, I had my mother to help me adjust. I know Emily doesn't have anyone like that, so please help her." Anna looked at Saya, and both looked at Darheel.

"After all this time, you still don't get it." Anna said with a smile.

"Don't get what?" I asked, confused. For some reason, all three of my pokemon started laughing. "What? What am I not getting?"

"You don't have to order us to do anything Lady Angela." Darheel said.

"We'd beat the tar out of other pokemon for you" Saya said, "Why would we not be nice to another member of our group? You don't have to ask us to do something like that, we'd do it any ways." I stifled a grin.

"Thanks." I said.

* * *

Hours later, the sun had completely set and it was dark outside. I was still on the bed, leaning against Michael holding the unconscious Emily. Anna and Saya were asleep on my legs, while Darheel was asleep standing up. Virgil was staring at Emily from the bed across from me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I have yet to lock eyes with her and confirm her as a true reborn." Virgil said.

"Whatever." I mumbled. Michael had the TV onto some terrible movie involving…giant killer Lopunny? "What is this?"

"_Night Of The Lepus" _Michael said, "Takes place in a fictional country called Australia, and involves an attack of giant Lopunny."

"Lopunny aren't scary! They eat vegetables! And who the hell would name a country Australia?"

"I think they're scary." Anna mumbled.

"Why do you enjoy terrible movies like this?" I asked, "Isn't the point of identifying something as good or bad to avoid it? I know you said bad movies have a charm to them, but they just electrocuted a Lopunny!"

"I watch movies like this because they exist as proof you can make a movie on a budget that only exists theoretically." Michael said.

"I doubt it existed that much." I said. Suddenly Emily started kicking against me. She yawned, and opened her eyes.

"Wh-Where" She looked towards Virgil and froze, mouth agape. After a moment, Virgil turned to me.

"She's legit."

"I suspected." I replied. Emily looked up at me, eyes watering, confused.

"You-you died, but you didn't die! Where am I? Why can't I move?" Emily's legs continued to kick. "Why am I soft? Where is Ryan? Where is Mama?"

"Oh yeah, Ryan was Shu's real name." I said, snapping my fingers. Emily looked confused.

"S-Shu?" Oh boy. How best to react to this.

I've made a LOT of bad decisions in my life, my dear listener, and one of the worst was the one I was about to make. I didn't know it would be at first, not for awhile in fact, but it came back to bite me in the ass.

"Shu was a friend of mine, whose first trainer named him Ryan." I said. "Whose the Ryan you were talking about?"

"M-My brother…" Emily said.

"Sorry, don't know him." I said. "How did you two get separated?"

"Y-Y-You know, you s-saw me die, cuz I saw you die!" Emily said. Well, she was right. "I-What am I? My leg is blue!"

"Your black leg is yellow." I said. Emily kicked both of her back legs spastically. "Yeah, it'll take a little while to get used to that. Hell, walking to me forever it seemed like, without falling over."

"What am I?" Emily asked.

"Well…a Shinx. You've been reborn as a Shinx." Emily frowned for a moment, breathing slowly. "Now I know this can be difficult—"

"AWESOME!" Emily yelled, smiling. I paused in mid-sentence.

"Huh?"

"I always loved Shinx! Frankly, being human was dull, and you can't shoot lighting! I bet I could power a zeppelin now couldn't I?"

"You're a new born Shinx!" I said, "You can barely power yourself, much less power a giant blimp."

"No, you can power anything as ling as you believe you can!" Emily said.

"Do you live in a kids show?" I asked, "Believe you can? If I believed I could turn people into chocolate by thinking about it really hard, could I? Of course now! That makes no sense!"

"Well, we'll just agree to disagree." Emily said.

"That's not an answer! We have to agree on this, which means you have to agree with me, and oh my God I'm having a fight with a newborn!"

"The funny thing is that you're loosing." Charlotte called to me. I flipped her off.

"So, you're not the least bit upset?" I asked Emily. She smiled and shrugged.

"Nah, I bet I'm cuter now right? I feel softer, but why do I need four legs? Or a tail? Or fangs? I can shoot electricity!"

"You need more then that to win." I said, "If electricity was all you needed, then Pecha would…okay, as you know Pecha is a bad example."

"Whose Pecha?" Emily asked, confused.

"Well you, oh wait you're a newborn reborn, you don't know of the irritation that is Pecha." I said, "Sorry, I forget stuff like this."

"Uh, okay." Emily said. "Just to clarify, you're my trainer right?" I smiled.

"Yes, I am your trainer, a former reborn myself, and I will train you until you're able to break mountains with your electricity!" I thrust my arm into the air, posing. Everyone was staring at me now. "Uh, sorry. Caught up in the moment."

"What's your name?" Emily asked.

"Angela." I said, "Have I really been talking for a half an hour and forgotten to mention my name?"

"Yep. Going back to sleep, night Angela!" With that, Emily curled up into a ball, and went to sleep. I sighed, and Michael frowned.

"Why did you say Shu's first trainer named him Ryan?" Michael asked, "You told me Shu's real name was Ryan, and he was a reborn. He's Emily's brother."

"Yes he was. I just couldn't tell her that he was reborn also."

"Or that he died." Michael said. I paused, then nodded.

"I just couldn't tell her. I mean, look what she's gone through. She was raped! Murdered! Reborn as a Shinx to someone she doesn't know, in a country she's never been in. If I told her not only had Shu been reborn, but he died only a few months ago, do you think she would have recovered?"

"Here's a bigger question." Michael said. "What about when Emily finds out?"

"She won't find out." I said.

"Bullshit! Eventually, it'll come out. I don't blame you for not telling her that her brother died now, but not saying anything, and then denying that you knew who her brother was…that was stupid Angela."

"How?" I asked.

"Well, if she finds out, she'll remember you lied to her." Michael said. "Will that end well? Will she trust you later?"

"You're not going to tell her are you?" I asked Michael. He shook his head. "Then I don't see what we have to worry about."

"Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there." Michael said. "In fact, those things you don't see can trip you up worst of all."

Oh how true that was. But more on that later.

**AN: **Alright, a rather light hearted chapter, but I wanted to write something that was mostly fluff.


	44. Rollout

**AN: **I'm sorry about this chapter taking to long, I was moving, and I'm really busy right now. I'll try to update more offten though.

**XLIV: Rollout**

There are three things that I truly, but not seriously, hate. I hate people who disrespect trainers. I hate people who don't admit George Lazenby is the best at what he did. I hate rollout. Oh Lord how I hate rollout. Not Whitney, not Miltank, just rollout. What a shitty attack.

I mean seriously, it rarely misses, it's damage doubles five times, and if you're not knocked out after the fifth time it doesn't matter! You're so close, you will be in just a second.

I wanted to punch Whitney in the brain, I really did. I mean, my God I hate that bitch, I hate her whining, I hate her for using rollout! So yeah, I guess I do hate Whitney.

The night before my gym battle, Emily was asleep in my lap, and I was looking over all the strategy info I collected on Whitney.

"This woman gives out the dullest damn badge on Earth." I said, "The Plain badge? It's just a square!"

"Why do you need badges?" Anna asked me.

"Technically, I don't. You can get into the pokemon league tournament without them. Of the eight finalists, three will have all eight badges. If you have eight, you skip to the semi-finals, you don't have to fight in one of the preliminary tournaments."

"Why not just battle through the preliminary tournaments?"

"Because that's for the weak!" I said. "We will never be weak, we will kick ass and engrave our names into their skulls!" I believe I was shaking our fist at this time. Anna just stared at me.

"Normal-type are weak to fighting-type, correct Lady Angela?" Darheel asked.

"You got it razor boy." I said, looking over my notes. "We may not have a fighting-type, but it doesn't matter, Whitney will be week to my great strategies!"

"You're thrusting again Lady Angela." I put my fist down. "We will fight though, I without my blades."

"Why not use those things?" I asked, "It's like having a dick and not beating off."

"My girlfriend ladies and gentlemen." Michael mumbled.

"I-I am human despite my gross insect exterior." Darheel said to me. "If I were to use these harsh implements, would it not be like me denying my true nature?"

"…What?"

Never did get an answer. I slept soundly that night, I knew Whitney would fall to my clever strategies and superior pokemon. She had two pokemon, and I had three, what could go wrong? A lot.

* * *

All gyms are designed based on their types, Falkners gym was designed for flying-types and Bugsy's gym was a forest. Whitney's gym was bland. Completely average design, nothing special at all about it.

"Are we sure this is the right place?" I asked, looking down at my map.

"Says it's the right place." Michael said, looking at his map. "I think it is anyway."

Said building was a two story white building, with tinted windows, in a row of buildings like that. The only thing different about this one was it had a sign reading GYM on it.

"We're assuming this is even the right gym." Charlotte said, looking at her map. "It could be, you know, an actual gym!" The five of us, being the crafty people we were, had printed out maps that pointed to where the gym was. Or rather, three of us had. Desiree didn't believe in maps, and Virgil wanted to use his "Heightened Zangoose sense of smell" to track down the gym.

"We'll just have to check it out." I said, "Before we go in though…" I unzipped my bag, and pulled out a bottle. "Feeding time."

"You know, I would have remembered." Michael said. He was holding Emily in the crook of his left arm, wrapped in blankets. She was half asleep. "Should we be feeding her if she's asleep?"

"I have a schedule, I know what I'm doing!" I said.

"Can you schedule an infant?"

"Not with that attitude you can't. Force it down her throat." I said. Anna, who was riding on my back, looked at Emily (Darheel and Saya were in their balls).

"Why does she have to use a bottle?" Anna asked me.

"Because she's too young to eat solid foods, it takes about two to three months. I'd say something about you being that way when you were young, but you eat sunlight primarily."

"I eat those pellets you give me!"

"You won't when you evolve into a Sceptile. You're lucky that way, you can spend more time training, less time digesting."

"Yeah, lucky." Anna mumbled. We headed into the gym.

"Well, this is definetly the right place." I said. We were brought into a plain, white, undecerated lobby. A secretary who was so plain, I don't remember their gender, looked up at us.

"Trainers through the left, spectators through the right." I turned to the others.

"Alright, whish me luck guys! …Michael, you're tilting Emily!" He looked down, and tilted her upward. "Better. I'll be watching you."

"Would it not be smarter to focus on the battle at hand?" Virgil asked. He was holding three other blankets for Emily, two spare bottles, a pound of fromula, and anything else I feared I might need.

"I could take care of her if it makes you feel any better." Desiree said, Iggy on her head. "I can teach her how to paint! I can also teach her how eating paint feels good that night, but man do you have a weird morning after."

"Uh, that's a nice offer, Michael make sure that Charlotte and Virgil sit between you and Desiree. Tell Quintcel to break Desiree's arm if she gets close."

"I can't talk to pokemon!"

"That's nice." I walked through the door on the left. Anna was nervous, I could feel her tallons digging into my shoulder. Despite the pain, I chose not to say anything, anxiety would make Anna alert.

Whitney's gym was, like the rest of the building, very plain, all white with hard wood floors. Whitney herself was sitting in what looked like a directors chair, reading a script. She was mouthing words, and barely noticed me.

"Ugh, I suppose you want to battle?"

"Nope, just came to admire your acting ability." Whitney blushed.

"Well, I usualy don't give free preformences—"

"Of course I want a battle you simpleton!" I shouted. "Send out your pokemon!" Whitney huffed, dropping her script.

"You don't have ta be mean!" She said, tossing out a pokeball. "Come out Fafa!"

"Fafa?" I asked. A Cleffa emerged in front of me, jumping up and down like a ball of energy. "…You're kidding me." I unclipped a pokeball, "Saya, you're first."

Saya emerged, battle face on, staring down the fierce one pound ball of fat. She looked at me, face full of confusion.

"I don't have to touch it do I?"

"Nope, just use water gun."

"You believe yourself to be a strong trainer!" Whitney said, not so much talking as acting, "But you've never seen a dangerous Cleffa quite like mine. Pound Fafa!" The Fafa bounced towards us, one tiny, knobby arm raised. Saya hit it center mass with a water gun, and Fafa was air borne.

Whitney hit the ground, as Fafa flew past her head, hitting the back wall. It slid down, soaking wet and beaten hard. Fafa stood up though, and waddled it's wet and bruised star body back out there.

"Alright, that did not go the way I expected for it to go, but a good gym leader never lets one hit get her down. No, she prepares, she strategists, and she rebuilds her spaceship!"

"You're just quoting a really bad script aren't you?" I asked.

"I'll have you know—"

"Water gun." Fafa was sent flying again, like a pink volley ball, spinning this time and screaming the entire way. This time Whitney didn't move out of the way, and Fafa hit her in her stupid pink haired face. Whitney fell backwards out of her chair, head slamming into the ground. Fafa was unconscious, it's debatable what the state of her trainer was.

"I-I wont cry. I will push myself back up, and send out my next champion." Whitney sat up, scraping Fafa off of her face, eyes red and clearly about to cry. She sniffled twice, and withdrew Fafa. "Alright, this is not the end of me, I've lost my laser gun but not my plasma sword!"

"It must have been a really bad script." I said. Whitney tossed a second pokeball out.

"Emerge for your empress, Buff Buff! Seriously, how did I not get that role?" An Igglybuff appeared on the field, even smaller and rounder the Fafa. Let's get one thing straight, Igglybuff suck, a lot. They know one attack. Not Normal-Type attack, just one attack. You can teach them more with TM's, but I bet Whitney is to damn stupid to wear her pants the right way, much less use a TM. "Buff Buff, sweet kiss!"

Buff Buff blew a kiss at Saya, who was horribly effected and confused…no wait, nothing happened. At all, Saya just shrugged, and used water gun.

Buff Buff was hit, tossed like a bright pink tennis ball at Whitney. Whitney shrieked, and smacked Buff Buff away from her (sure that helped her pokemon). Buff Buff hit the ground, and bounced back up into Saya's water gun blast. I wish I were making this up.

Buff Buff hit the back wall, rolled down, and back towards us, leaving a watery trail behind her. She rolled back into the arena, and stood up, swaying as she did.

"Ha, that's exactly what I wanted you to do! To reveal your trump card, your missile defense codes!"

"What genre was that script?" I asked.

"Copycat Buff Buff!" Buff Buff glowed for a second, and then fired off a pitiful stream of water that hit the ground near Saya. Saya looked at me, and I shrugged.

"Ice beam." Buff Buffs eyes bulged, as Saya fired. Buff Buff tried to jump away, only to get hit hard. The ice froze her in mid-air, completely coating her. "Okay, that's done."

Whitney now was sniffling very hard, eyes starting to water. Jeez, what a whiner. Whitney withdrew Buff Buff, causing all the ice to collapse into chips. "Alright, you have beaten my artillery, and sunk my battle zeppelin, but I am not defeated! No, my greatest champion comes now! Come forth, Mil Mil!"

A Miltank appeared in front of Saya, looking down on her. Four hundred pink and white pounds, ready to crush Saya. Bring it on. "Mil Mil, rollout!"

"Saya, ice—" Mil Mill hit the ground rolling, and ran over Saya "beam? Saya?"

"I-I'm okay!" Saya said. Mil Mil spun around, starting to roll faster (how do you pick up speed turning?) heading back to Saya. Saya fired straight at the spinning cow, coating her in ice.

"Yeah!" Which promptly broke, not even slowing the fucker down. Saya fired again, and again, but Mil Mil just broke through the ice. "Get out of there!" Too late.

Saya jumped, and was struck by Mil Mil. She was knocked down hard, hitting the wood head first. Her eyes shut, Saya was done, and I was down one.

I withdrew Saya, and unclipped Darheel. "Alright, my bladeless Scyther, you're up!" Darheel appeared, confronted by no one! Mil Mil was asleep, Whitney was reading her script. "Hello?" Whitney looked up.

"You still want to battle?"

"YES!" I shouted. She shrugged.

"Rollout." Mil Mil shot off towards Darheel, who leapt at and over it.

"Slash!" I shouted.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Lady Angela." Darheel said, leaping again over Mil Mil.

"Why the hell not?"

"That would be a compromising of my principals." Darheel said. "I can do a slashing kick if that works."  
"Who gives two shits about your principals! Fuck it, slash kick then." Scyther swung its leg sharply in a diagonal arc at Mil Mil. Mil Mil jumped (!) or somehow got airborne, and struck Darheel in the head. He spun around, stumbling.

"That did not go as I prepared Lady Angela." Darheel said, "I must have miscalculated the trajectory" That was all he got, when Mil Mil slammed into him a second time and knocked him on his green ass. Served him right for not shutting up. Mil Mil finally rolled to a stop.

"Now's our chance! Wing attack!" Darheel spread his wings, and lunged at Mil Mil. Like hitting a fucking brick wall, Darheel bounced off and landed upside down.

"She appears to be made of lard Lady Angela."

"Fury cutter!"

"Afraid not M'lady." Of course. Darheel walked right up to Mil Mil, who didn't move, and head butted her with all his might. Mil Mil shook, but didn't seem effected. Darheel did another slash kick, and Mil Mil shook like a Jell-O cube, not falling over though.

"Rollout." Of course, why do something original when you can rely on bullshit attacks created just to piss off trainers. Darheel attempted to leap over again, but ended up landing on Mil Mil, and slipping.

His back slammed into Mil Mil, and his eyes bulged. Darheel then hit the ground, arms stiff and twitching. Before Darheel could get up, Mil Mil ran over his chest, knocking him out.

"You did great Darheel." I said, withdrawing him. I nodded to Anna. "You're up, take her down."

"I'll do what I can." Anna jumped down, facing Mil Mil. Mil Mil herself looked bored, and Whitney had gone back to reading her damn script.

"Uh, rollout again or something." Whitney said.

"Yes my great queen!" Mil Mill curled up, and rushed at Anna.

"Absorb!" Anna sucked the little green energy bits off of the charging Miltank, and leapt out of the way as Mil Mil rolled by. No slow down, no effect. "Pound?" Mil Mil swung at Anna, who leapt up and struck the spinning Miltank with its head leaf. If their was any effect, I couldn't see it.

"Quick attack!" Anna zipped off, as Mil Mil spun, still avoiding the attack spaming cow. Anna turned, and ran directly at the blur.

"Gah!" Anna slammed into Mil Mil, and stumbled, tumbling over it. Anna hit the ground chest first, as Mil Mil spun around. I was screaming something, but it didn't matter. It almost seemed to happen in slow motion.

Anna stumbled, and fell to the ground, as Mil Mil swung around. She tried to roll, and did, but not very far. Mil Mil rolled over her legs, and I-I could hear it snap.

I was out running on to the field, as Anna began to cry from pain. I scooped her up, I could feel her legs limp in my arms.

The match was over, and I lost.

Fuck.

**AN: **In the manga, Whitney is an actress and arrogant, hence she is here too.


	45. What's Eating Angela Duncan?

**AN: **To think, this story used to be on a schedule. I have no excuse other then, I've been probably the busiest I've been in my entire life. Well, here's a chapter.

**XLV: What's Eating Angela Duncan?**

I took Anna straight to the pokecenter, barely noticing the others. Anna wasn't unconscious, no no, I could hear her moaning in pain. Her legs were both broken, even with my lack of medical knowledge I knew that. I also knew what it meant.

Pokemon can heel faster then humans, even without the psychedelic dream machine. The machine can only heal bruises, cuts, tissue damage, not bones. Or, are bones made of tissue? I dunno, I was a cop not a biologist. Anyways, the bones of pokemon can heal within a week, but that meant Anna would be a week incapacitated.

I ran out of the gym, down the road, trying not to cry. I couldn't show Anna weakness, had to keep blinking. I'd seen the Pokemon Center as we'd been looking for the gym, and I through my self into the glass doors, throwing them open.

"Helpmehelpmehelpmehelpme!" I shouted, sprinting to the front counter. The nurse didn't have a chance to say anything, I dumped Anna's limp form into her arms. "Helpherhelpher!"

"Uh, do you have any poke—" I tossed her Saya and Darheel's balls. "Uh, we'll take good care of them."

"T-Thank you." I whispered. She took Anna way from me, nothing I can do now.

"Angela?" I flipped around to see Michael standing there. Face full of concern, he embraced me. "I saw what happened, don't worry, I'm here."

"Thank you so much." I whispered, before sobbing.

* * *

Anna was asleep, both legs strung up in metal rigging. She was asleep, drugged, most likely going to remain like that for a while. Even her head leaf had gone limp. Anna was laying on a large pillow, with me by her side.

"It's my fault." I said, "Completely my fault, I screwed up."

"You did not." Michael said again. "You knew the risks of battling Whitney, and you went through with it. Anna knew too, besides, it's not permanent."

"Ten days like this." I snapped. "Ten days, before she can train, much less battle again! Then what if I go up against Whitney again, and this happens again? What then?"

"Angela—"

"Don't you say anything!" I snapped. "You don't know what this is like."

"I sent you into battle." Michael said. "That hurt worse, because I knew that it was you, not just an Umbreon. Yeah, I was pissed at you at first, which you didn't fully deserve, but I got over it and still sent you to fight. I did it because you know the dangers, and didn't care, you battled and loved it. Guess what, Anna did it too. She didn't love it, but she still chose to do it anyway, because she knew you loved it." I stood up. "Where are you going?"

"You're right." I said, "But I need some air, watch Anna."

* * *

Anna had been moved to the main Pokecenter, a giant five story building, with hundreds of pokemon in various states of care. Anna was on the third floor, broken bones, severe burns, and torn muscles. Saya and Darheel were in their balls around my hip. Michael was staying with me, but the rest of our group was…I have no idea where they were, somewhere.

I paused in front of an empty battle room. The pokecenter was full of training rooms, places for people to battle with their new pokemon. Because, once you're pokemon has had surgery or a mended bone, the best thing to do is to force it to battle!

I sat down on the padded floor, staring at the wall, looking for answers in the wall. It was just a battle, just a loss, but this one freaked me out so much, and I didn't know why! I mean, yes I've lost before, I've had pokemon get hurt before, not this badly but still! It just…I felt wrong about all of this.

"Angela?" I turned, greeted by a face I didn't expect to see. April stood in the doorway, confusion on her face and a map in her hands.

April was a girl I had met twice before, both times watching her get horribly lost. In fact, I saw her get lost inside of the hotel where Michael got Gabriel. Why the hell was she here?

"Why the hell are you here?"

"I got lost trying to find the train." April said. Of course.

"….This is a pokemon hospital! There are no trains in a hospital! How the hell did you get so lost you ended up in the wrong fucking building! Did the fact you were going upstairs not tip you off!"

"You're upset, aren't you?" April asked. I just looked at her, mouth agape. "I can tell these things, I pick up on subtle hints."

"…Yes I am upset." I said. "My Grovyle is…well her legs got broken by Whitney. The bitch didn't need to do that, but she did anyway, she broke Anna's legs."

"Wow, that sucks." April said, "Why are you so upset?" I just shrugged. "Your Grovyle really has you that upset? I know pokemon are great and all, but it's not like they can talk, you can't get that close to them."

"You just don't get it." I mumbled. April suddenly smiled.

"I know how to cheer you up! Let's battle! Since you don't have your starter, I wont use mine, what do you say?"

"My Grovyle's legs are broken because of a battle, why the hell would fighting help me?"

"You never know." April said. "If you don't, I'm going to ask you for directions. You don't want me to ask you for directions." I opened my mouth, pausing.

"Fuck it." I stood up. "You know, maybe this will help, I dunno. I'll go first." I enlarged Saya's ball. "Saya, you first."

"Let me kill that Miltank!" Saya blinked rapidly, confused. "That's not a Miltank, that's a female. Shall I kill her?"

"I love your Horsea" April giggled, "It's so cute." Saya's eyes bulged, and she began to twitch slightly.

"C-C-C-Cute! YOU DIE NOW!"

"Hey, can I ask you a hypothetical question?" I asked. April looked up and shrugged.

"Alright."

"Okay, I have this friend."

"Hypothetical friend? Come on out Pudgy." A Donphan appeared in front of me, staring down Saya. I think my mouth was hanging open, and Saya's eyes looked like they would pop out of their sockets.

"I get to kill that?" She smiled. "Best fight ever!" I pulled out my pokedex, only to see it was at level 27.

"How the hell is that at level 27? You've been a trainer for less time then me!"

"You know, training, love, steroids, the usual." She said, smiling. "Besides, as long as I don't sleep, I can train."

"When was the last time you slept?"

"…Five years ago, give or take?" I gave her a look. "Kidding! Say, did you know you and your Grovyle both have A names? We do too, that's weird. I like A names, they have a lot of variety."

"Aren't we battling?" I asked. April shrugged.

"Pudgy, thunder fang." Can ground-types learn that? "Tell me about your hypothetical friend."

Saya backslapped out of the way of Pudgy and his electrified mouth. Saya water gunned the top of its head, and to my amazement Pudgy went down in one hit! Or rather, I wish that's what happened.

No, Pudgy ran after Saya, who started hopping and firing, me barely paying attention.

"Alright my hypothetical friend didn't want to do a certain task." I said, "Something I wanted her to do."

"If she's hypothetical, then she only didn't want to do it theoretically." April said. I looked at her. Saya screamed, as Pudgy slammed into her.

"What? Alright, my hypothetical friend didn't want to do a certain theoretical task. You see, I wanted her to fight."

"Help me Arceus for the love of God help me!" Saya screamed, running in a circle, Pudgy coming after her.

"You wanted your hypothetical friend to participate in theoretical fighting?" April asked. "Oh, is it like underground faux cage fighting? Or imaginary fight clubs?"

"No!" I said, "Just simple, one on one fighting until one opponent is knocked out."  
Pudgy started to stomp on Saya, who kept trying to freeze its leg. April thought about it for a moment.

"Do you bet on these fights?" Saya was run over.

"Why would I bet on them? Betting's illegal!" Then again, so is having sex behind a taco restaurant, but that didn't stop me when I was twelve, so I don't know why I wouldn't be betting. Why aren't you allowed to bet on pokemon battles?

"So, you don't bet on them, and you force your hypothetical friend to fight in them?" April asked, now very confused. Before I could answer, Saya was sent flying straight at my head like a bright blue hockey puck. I grabbed her, and by grabbed I mean she slipped through my hands and smacked me in the nose.

"Owe! Go back and play!"

"I don't want to." Saya whimpered. "Please—" I tossed her back in.

"Aren't we battling?" April asked. I shrugged.

"I need to finish my hypothetical theoretical story. Saya, uh, leaf blade or something."

"I'm water-type!" Saya shrieked.

"That's great. Alright, now…grass-type." I shook my head rapidly. "Sorry, just thinking about things."

"I think your Horsea might be dead." April said. I turned to look at Saya.

"Not dead…just bruised." Saya said, as Pudgy began to stomp her again. I withdrew her before its foot could come down again.

"Uh, sorry." I said, reclipping Saya's ball.

"Pudgy knows just to bruise." April said, "Saya will be fine after a nights rest."

_How the hell would you know that? Do you work at the pokemon center?_

"Alright. Want to go another round?" I asked. April started chewing on her bottom lip. "What?"

"Well, you didn't really battle…"

"Another round!"

"Okay!" April pulled out a pokeball. "Mint, you're up now."

"Mint?" A Butterfree appeared in front of me. It moved directly in front of my face, staring. "What are you doing?"

"Is this real?" Mint asked, "Or am I in a chocolate and reality-television induced coma?" I think that's what Mint said, I don't remember, it's been fifty-five years.

"Uh, okay?"

"Blarggle!" Weird. I unclipped Darheel's ball, and pitched it. He appeared as he usually did, looking dignified with his blades crossed. Darheel yawned, and looked at Mint.

"Is this who I am to engage in combat Lady Angela?" Darheel asked.

"Uh, yeah. Go do…something." I said. "Can I go back to talking about my hypothetical friend?"

"Mint, stun spore. Go on Angela."

"Lady Angela, I need a command." Darheel said, "It would be –" The golden powder settled onto Darheel, freezing him stiff. Darheel fell onto his back, looking straight at the sky.

"Well, my hypothetical friend, she…she got hurt in a theoretical battle. Both legs broken."

"Your hypothetical friend got into a theoretical battle, and had both imaginary legs broken?" April asked, scratching her head. "I think we're in mixed message hell." I paused, trying to think of what I wanted to say.

"The thing that bothers me isn't that my hypothetical friend is hurt." I said.

"Is it that you're forcing your hypothetical friend to engage in underground fight clubs?" April asked.

"I promised her, she'd grow stronger." I said, "That she wouldn't get hurt. Except…she did get hurt, not only that, she did after she got stronger, despite me training her. I mean, she's been alone and hurt by her last tra-friend. I-I don't even know why this upsets me, I mean, I knew what I was doing…it just…"

"Well, I have two observations." April said, "I doubt either would help, but sometimes you just need advice." I sighed, and nodded, slumping to the ground.

"You know, I could use some advice." April smiled, sitting down beside me.

"I'd recall your Scyther. I coated him in so much stun spore, I don't think he can breathe." I pulled him back into his ball, while April recalled Mint. "Good, now let me just say this. If your hypothetical friend is a human, then you are a horrible, horrible person."

"April!"  
"It's true!" April said. "If your friend is human, you're forcing it him or her to engage in underground fight clubs! I bet you due bet on the matches, you bet and you don't share the money, and now you're afraid you'll have to use your blood money to pay to have your friends legs fixed!" I just stared at her. "How close am I?"

"…If that were the case, why am I in a hospital for pokemon?" I asked. "Am I not only forcing my friend to engage in under ground fight clubs, am I forcing her to heal here?"

"Uh, I guess not." April admitted.

"My friend is my Grovyle." I said, "I kinda figured you could guess that."

"We said hypothetical so often, my brain melted."

"Her name is Anna, but you already know that. Whitney, the fucking pink haired clit-slut broke her legs because she's a fucking whore!"

"Did you challenge her to a battle?" April asked. "Besides, I know all of this. Now, my second piece of advice is…I don't know what to do to make you less upset." She threw her hands up. "No idea! You knew what the risks were of putting your Grovyle into battle, you chose to do it anyway. So, either you live in a fairytale where pokemon never get hurt, or something traumatized you, and fucked you up six ways to Sunday."

"The later." I said, "I don't want to talk about it." April just rolled her eyes.

"Let me tell you something someone once told me. Life is short and painful. Everything you do someone does better. It doesn't matter what you do because one day the sun will explode and all your accomplishments will be destroyed. You'll die, and their probably isn't an afterlife, so everything done here is an exercise in futility."

"Wow!" I exclaimed, "You should write greeting cards."

"I'm not finished." April said, "The rest of it goes…I forget."

"Seriously, start working at a suicide hotline, give them your spiel." April rolled her eyes again.

"Question, why did you say your Grovyle didn't want to go into battle?" April asked, "From the way you told it, it sounded like you could talk to your Grovyle."

"I can." I said, not realizing what I just said till it was too late. April's eyes bulged. "…Damn it."

"You can talk to Grovyle?" April asked in a hushed voice.

"Well, all pokemon." I said, "Do not ask how, it's a long story. I mean, it's one hundred and seventy-five chapters long trying to explain everything that's happened."

"Alright, I think. I wont tell anyone, you can trust me."

"Thanks, I appreciate that." I stood up. "It's been great talking to you again April."

"It has." April looked up at me, "Angela, have you ever considered doing something different, besides training pokemon?" I paused, thinking it over.

"Yeah."

Michael was still watching Anna, and Anna was still asleep when I made it back to the room. I sat down beside him, and he patted my leg.

"You okay?"

"…No." I said. "But I don't have to be, Anna does. I just have to get over it."


	46. The First Test Of Suicune

**AN: **Look who finaly maneged to get a chapter up on time! This chapter started a lot different then it ended up, but I think it still works.

**XLVI: The First Tests Of Suicune**

"I don't understand these candles." Virgil said, "They confuse me."

"You said you wanted to get to know me a bit more." Desiree said, "I told you to hold my easel, you wanted more. Well, now you get to see me in my tabernacle, please be quiet. We're in the presence of the Goddess."

"Yeah, quiet!" Iggy said. The three of them were in a tabernacle, belonging to the Tabernacle of The Sun. The building its self was just a big empty room with pews, a pulpit, and a bunch of tables covered in candles and little effigies. Desiree was whispering something, and using a small candle to light a bigger one.

"We pray for the strength to make it through each day." She said, "We pray for mental fortitude. We pray for our fallen comrades, human and pokemon. We pray for guidance, and we thank you for your gifts."

"Why are you doing this?" Virgil asked. Desiree sighed.

"I don't talk about my religion much." She said, "Angela you can tell isn't comfortable with me mentioning it, and Charlotte only believes in the after-life out of spite."

"I do not believe you can find deep spiritual meaning in spite."

"That's what I said." Desiree replied. "Still, this place helps me. When I joined the Tabernacle, I was in a real bad place in my life. They helped me come to terms with a lot of things, like my identity as an...a...sexual…" She stopped talking, and started lighting more candles. Virgil just stared.

_A sexual…what? She is more beautiful in candle light. Her spirit is strong. I am attracted to her, though I annoy her. I must ponder this fact._

"I know this doesn't interest you." Desiree said. "What do Zangoose believe in Virgil?"

"I believe that the legendaries are gods." Virgil stated, "Before the earth, the universe its self was made of life, death, and chaos. From that was formed the eggs of Arceus, Giratina, and Mew. From them came the other legendaries, the humans, the pokemon. I believe them to be gods though."

"Why?" Virgil didn't respond.

_Because Mara and Enfer are still alive then._

"I will leave you for now." Virgil said, "I am feeling nauseated by the smoke, fresh air will help."

"Kay." Virgil exited, to find Charlotte outside in front of the building, smoking. Quintcel was behind her, also holding a cigarette.

"Do I use it to open things Lady Charlotte?" Quintcel asked. "Or is it some kind of food source."

"You can eat it. It'll taste like a shit covered lolli-pop, but hey if you like it I suppose that's all that matters." Quintcel sniffed it, and then ate it in one bite. He belched.

"No, it did not taste pleasant Lady Charlotte. Why do you possess these foul-tasting things M'lady?" Charlotte laughed.

"They take the edge off." She took another drag. "Given that I live in a world where pokemon can be reborn, and I can talk to them no less, I've got plenty of edge that needs to come off."

"I do not understand this either." Virgil said, standing beside Charlotte. Charlotte just shrugged.

"Get used too it." Charlotte said. "Desiree still doing her…whatever?"

"I admire her spirit." Virgil said. Charlotte took a long drag.

"Uh huh." She put her cigarette out under her shoe. "I just want to go. Not back to that pokemon center, hospitals or pokemon centers, the big ones, they make me uncomfortable."

"Why is that?"

"Long story." Charlotte said, pulling out another cigarette. "Do you think—" The wind started blowing, a gust out of no where. Charlotte's cigarette's slipped out of her hand, and blew away. Quintcel and Virgil took a battle stance.

"No need to do that." Charlotte groaned. "It's nice to see you too Charlotte." Suicune stood in front of the three of them, in public, but oddly without anyone noticing. "You've been using the gift I imparted too you, very good."

"Uh, should you really be out in public?" Charlotte asked. Suicune laughed.

"They can't see me unless I want them too." Suicune said, "We can talk as long as it takes for me to convince you to come with me."

"Why am I not surprised? Where do you want me too…" Charlotte noticed in the corner of her eye Virgil. Virgil bowing. "…too go, Virgil what the hell are you doing?"

"Bowing in Suicune's presence. Bow Charlotte."

"I'm not going to bow!"

"You need to bow."

"This is always a big problem" Suicune said with a smirk, "Every time I go out, people and Pokemon always want to worship me, and I have to tell them to stop bowing. I suppose you know all about that though."

"Why would I know all about it?" Charlotte asked.

"Huh, I suppose you're right." Suicune said. "Well, hope on my back, you can take your two friends with you."

"I still don't know where I'm going!"

"Nor will you until we get there. Now, get on, or I freeze all of you in ice and transport you there." Suicune said. "That might do serious damage, I recommend you don't test." Charlotte sighed, and climbed onto the giant dog-things back, taking Quintcel with her.

"Hop on." Virgil looked up.

"I do not believe I should be allowed to touch the diving body." Charlotte sighed. She slapped Virgil across the face, and jerked him on while he was stunned.

"Let's ride!" With that, Suicune ran! Ran through buildings, through blurs, through fucking time and space, didn't really matter. Charlotte wasn't holding on, but oddly was in no danger of falling.

_Suicune is keeping me from falling…which means when I fist tried to catch it, Suicune could have dropped me at any second, but didn't._

Virgil was gripping Charlotte, knuckles white, breathing fast. He was scared, Lord knows he would never admit it in a lifetime, but he was scared to death! Charlotte laughed silently, served the bastard right.

"Relax." Charlotte said, "It's almost done."

"I-I am not afraid." Virgil said, "I-I trust the divine presence of Suicune."

"I'm not divine kid." Suicune said, "I just pretend to be." Charlotte wasn't sure if the dog thing was being honest, or just wanted Virgil to shit himself. Maybe a little bit of both. Quintcel just held on to Charlottes back, his horn thrust across her shoulder.

The air was getting damper and colder, and now the blurs turned upward. Could Suicune run upwards? Was that really the question to be asking right now? Charlotte pondered these things, when suddenly they jerked to a stop. Throwing a middle-finger to physics, they did not go flying off.

"We have arrived." Virgil slid off, shaking slightly, and curled up into a ball.

"You know" Charlotte said, "It wasn't really that bad." Virgil threw up. "Charming…snow?" They were standing in some place that looked mirrored. All the walls were clear and reflective, stalactites hung above them, and in front of them was a vast, snowy wasteland. An ice cave, possibly in Sinnoh. Charlotte stepped down, noting they were in the cave entrance, and it was also covered in snow.

"L-Lady Charlotte." Quintcel said, teeth chattering. "I-I-It is qui-uite colllllld is it no-o-ot?"

"Yeah, it is dude." Charlotte said. She looked over her clothing, sleeveless black shirt, denim vest, denim skirt, cowboy hat, and non-water proof boots. "At least you have an exoskeleton to keep you warm. What am I doing here?" Suicune walked to the edge of the ice they stood on.

"We're several hundred feet in the air, meters if you live somewhere else. If you fall from here, you will die, and quiet painfully. Do you understand Charlotte?" Charlotte walked over beside Suicune, and looked straight down.

"Crap." Straight down. They were on a cliff that jutted out slightly of a mountain. Down lead, well, down. Down to snow drifts, rocks, and a blanket of fog, too the point that Charlotte couldn't see the bottom. She collapsed to her knees.

"Yeah, it has that effect on people." Charlotte just nodded. "Look up, and straight ahead, tell me what you see Charlotte." Across from the two of them was another mountain, so high that they couldn't see the top. Their was a small cave entrance that Charlotte could see from her position.

"I-I see snow, and a big freaking mountain!" Charlotte said. "Please don't make me go over there. I am begging you, leave me here."

"No." Suicune said. "You have to reach that mountain over there." Charlotte looked down, and up again.

"She can't force you lady Charlotte." Quintcel whispered. "We can take her in a fight." Had Charlotte been me, she would have probably done that. Instead, she just sighed.

"What do you want?"

"Stand." Charlotte stood up, pulling Quintcel off her back, and holding him against her breast. "I told you that you interested me Charlotte, and you do, so I am going to test you. I need to test your bravery, and something…else that will be revealed later. You will walk across to the other cave."

"Walk? It's a half a mile, and if you didn't notice, we're on the side of a freaking mountain! Walk yourself!"

"You will not fall." Suicune said. "You must listen to me though. I can hear your heart rate, you must keep yourself calm. If you get anxious, you will be killed."

"What!" Quintcel pulled himself out of Charlottes arms, getting in Suicune's face.

"God or not, I'm—" Suicune fired a single ice beam, freezing Quintcel around the wings and chest. He fell to the ground, struggling.

"Few trainers have pokemon that loyal." Suicune said, "It would be wise for you to remember that. Now, since my test is difficult, I will allow you assistance for this portion." Suicune turned to Virgil, who was in a ball. His face was pale, and he was quivering. "Stand boy."

"M-My age is"

"Even if you lived one hundred life times, you would still be an infant to me. Now stand up." Virgil stood, shaking, and walked over too Charlotte. "You will accompany her to the other mountain, and back. There is a second task at the other cave, you will not assist her with that. Do you understand?" Virgil nodded.

"Y-Yes Lord." Charlotte looked at him. Virgil was wearing a thin, long sleeved shirt, and shorts, one sandal, and one shoe. He no longer looked like might vomit. Virgil grabbed Charlotte's hand.

"Don't let me fall." Charlotte said.

"I won't."

"Walk." Suicune said. Charlotte gripped Virgil tight, and the two walked off…

_Fuck! We're going to fall!_

…On to a solid ice surface. Charlotte had to use all of her energy not to scream. Her left foot was on ice, her right foot half on and off.

"Suicune, did Suicune fire an ice beam?" Charlotte whispered. "Make an ice bridge?"

"I would assume so." Virgil said.

"Don't fear." Suicune said. They kept walking, looking straight ahead, feet hitting ice with each step.

"I-I don't know if I can stay calm." Charlotte said. "Please-please talk to me, I don't want to fall."

"You will not fall." Virgil said, "I promise you." The wind was blowing hard up here, and Charlotte knew her feet slid a little when she moved. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Uh, Desiree, why are you attracted to her?"

"I would assume you would not find that interesting."

"You assume correct, and that's why I want to hear it." Charlotte said, "It'll distract me from how high up I am." Charlotte kept moving through the snow and wind. The mountain in front of her didn't look like it was getting any bigger.

"Desiree has spirit." Virgil said, "She has energy, and love that I-I admire. She is so far from me, and I am attracted to that. Even if she is a sexual something, I find myself increasingly attracted to her."

"No offense, but Desiree isn't exactly what I'd call attractive." Charlotte said. "I probably shouldn't be talking, but Desiree is fat, her hair is a mess, and she took make-up advice from circus clowns. Do you not care about any of that?"

"Physical attractiveness is irrelevant." Virgil said.

"Alright. Virgil, why are you not scared?" Charlotte asked. She stopped walking, just standing, breathing slowly. In through her nose, out through her mouth.

"I am scared." Virgil said.

"But you're so calm." Charlotte said, restraining raising her voice. They continued walking, closer and closer.

"I can not afford to be scared." Virgil said. "I want to protect those who need it, and right now you need me to be brave. I will not be scared." Charlotte squeezed his hand.

"Thanks Virgil. My God, we're here." They stood within five feet of the cave. Left, right, left, right.

_No fear Charlotte._

Charlotte stepped on solid land. Virgil stepped right after her. They turned back, to see a giant ice bridge between the two caves. Charlotte just fell on her butt beside Virgil.

"Please tell me I did not just do that."

"Oh, you did." Suicune said, walking up behind them from the cave. Charlotte didn't even jump with surprise. "I was impressed, you controlled your heart rate and only stopped once. Please enter the cave for your next test."

"Here, I'll help you." Virgil pulled Charlotte to her feet, and stopped her from stumbling backwards. The two walked past Suicune, into the mouth of the cave.

In the center of the small cave was an ice platform. On the platform was a perfect sphere of ice, giving off wisps of steam even in the cold.

"That sphere has been super-cooled by me." Suicune said. "You will be able to hold it for five minutes, before your hands are damaged beyond repair. It will take you four minutes to cross the ice bridge again." Charlotte and Virgil flipped too look at the dog thing.

"You-You want me to transport this thing?" Charlotte asked. Suicune nodded.

"This test will be to test your threshold for pain. This orb does not work like actual ice, it can not become stuck in your hands, no matter how cold it is, though it will damage your hands. If you make it to the other bridge walking, not running, I will repair the damage to your hands."

"You can't be serious!" Virgil said.

"I'll do it." Charlotte said.

"What!"

"Suicune is doing this for a reason" She turned to the legendary, "I presume."

"That's a safe presumption."

"So, if there is a reason behind this, I sure as hell don't know what it is, but I should probably go along with it." Charlotte said. "Plus, I want to go home." Charlotte grabbed the orb.

I do not know just how loud Charlotte screamed, nor can I imitate it. All I know is she started to cry the moment she picked the orb up.

"You can not release that orb." Suicune said. "Your companion can not carry it. If you drop it, you will die. You must start traveling now." Charlotte and Virgil took off on the ice bridge.

The bridge was slick, the wind blowing, and neither could run, just walk fast. Charlotte kept gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Do not drop that." Virgil said, growling as he spoke. "You are strong, I know you are strong, I have seen it. You feel no pain."

_No pain Charlotte._

Tears flowing, Charlotte kept walking. Her eyes were clenched shut, Virgil's arm was looped between hers.

"You will succeed"

_Don't fear Charlotte_

"And we will return to the others"

_Be brave Charlotte_

"I do not care if Suicune is divine"

_Be strong Charlotte_

"I will not let you fall." Charlotte cracked her eyes open.

"T-Thank you." Oddly, before grasping the orb, Charlotte had stopped being cold. Now she was shaking with each step. Her hands were ruby red, cracking if she moved them even slightly. Her nails were the wrong color, and her knuckles seemed enlarged almost.

_I-I will not be hurt. I will not be afraid. I will see you again, Tommy._

They stepped off the bridge. Charlotte let out an inhuman moan of joy. Suicune was in front of them, Quintcel was still iced to the floor.

"You may drop the orb." Charlotte let go the moment Suicune spoke. Even letting go hurt her fingers, her muscles seemed to crack. The orb fell to the ground, shattering into a thousand shards.

"Thank you." Charlotte whispered to Virgil. He just nodded.

"Place your hands on my side." Charlotte placed her red, boiled hands on Suicune's fur. Or rather, into it.

"The heck!" Charlotte seemed to sink into Suicune's side. Suicune's very warm side. Almost instantly, Charlotte was out, and her hands were normal. "How did you do that?"

"Need to know only." Suicune said with a smirk. Of course. Charlotte picked up Quintcel.

"Can you get the ice off of me Lady Charlotte?"

"When we get back to Goldenrod, then yeah." Charlotte said with a smile. "Thanks for defending me."

"It was my pleasure."

"Yeah. Let's get back to the city."


	47. Emily In Training

**XLVII: Emily In Training**

"I know Anna is very important to you." Michael said, "I know you feel like you're to blame, to a certain degree. It's time to go back to the room though, and get a shower."

"Shush." I said. Michael had come and gone, eventually bringing Emily and The Worthless Rejects(Minus Iggy and Darheel) with him. They were crowded around Anna, while I was feeding Emily with a bottle. Anna was awake, no longer in pain but very annoyed…I think. Truth be told, we hadn't had a conversation yet about her legs because of, well you'll see.

"So, these metal things hold your legs up?" Rush asked, "Cool!" Anna was currently staring off into space.

"Theygavemeinjections." Anna said.

"Pecha who is I wishes to know, what advantage does this building give you? If the Worthless Rejects were to invades say, Poland, how would this help us?"

"Somanyinjections." Anna said, looking through the others. "Theyallstarttoruntogether."

"She sounds like L3." Trish said, pecking the metal riggings. "I wonder how they'd give me drugs. Power drill?"

"I remember being in battles." Rush said, "I don't wanna do that anymore. I didn't find it fun, and…I'm sorry this happened Anna."

"Youwouldlikethesedrugs." Anna said, starting to drool. Her pupils were dilated to the point she had nothing but pupils.

"Battles Rush are kind of like the waves in the middle of the ocean." Streak said, "They aren't that big, they don't crash into you, unlike near the shore. Battles in gyms, like, you can recover from."

"Do you have any metaphors not involving the ocean?" Trish asked.

"Some involve rivers."

"Of course." I watched them all talking, smiling a little. Though I didn't often mention it, seeing everyone getting along was something I liked. I'd been a bit combative, and before being an Umbreon, I got along with exactly one person. I didn't like conflict, so seeing the others still friends in spite of all that happened made me happy.

"I've got to decide something." I said to Michael, nursing Emily. "Anna they said could actually take two weeks to get well, so I need to decide, what do I do about Whitney? I can't wait that long, I just-I just can't."

"Why not?" Michael asked. "You've got no reason to not wait other then you get neurotic about sitting around doing nothing. You always think some grand conspiracy is going on around you. Mind you, you're usually correct, but you're going to have to wait no matter what."

"I don't care." I said, "I'll fight Whitney with just Darheel and Saya. Now, Saya was able to take two of her pokemon without help, so if I get Darheel stronger, he should be able to take out that fucking Miltank. I also need too—"

"I'll fight." Emily said.

"That's great." I said to Emily. "Now we…You want to fight?" Emily, back to sucking on the bottle, nodded quickly. "You're an infant! You were born a few days ago! You can't fight, much less that bastard Miltank."

"Yes I can." Emil said. "I can do this!"

"No wait!" Emily released all of her electricity, terrible since I was fucking holding her. My hair shot straight up, as my muscles seized up, clenching Emily. The bottle I had been holding exploded in a cloud of white formula, spraying everything. Emily stopped shocking.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." We all started wiping formula off ourselves, except Anna who wasn't aware of what had just happened.

"IamsohighIcanseethroughspace." Anna said.

"See, I made a bottle explode!" Emily said, "I can fight!" I sat Emily down on Anna's bed, and started to wring out my shirt, and my hair.

"No one will argue." I said, "But, you've never been trained, you can barely walk upright, and you've got power. That's it, just electricity firing off in every direction."

"So, train me." Emily said. I laughed.

"You're at level five. Whitney's pokemon are at level twenty. You want me to raise you by fifteen levels in less then a week?"

"Would that be difficult?" Emily asked. I looked at her, then my pokeballs.

"…We'll start tomorrow."

* * *

We were on top of our hotel building (the luxurious Pressman hotel). I'd left the Worthless Rejects with Anna, who was also being watched by Virgil, Charlotte, and Desiree. Michael was going to bring Gabriel to train, but when he tried to take him, Gabriel bit his hand.

"I still don't get it, why is sitting in front of a drugged out Treecko so important?" Michael asked. I shrugged.

"Dunno." I looked down at Emily. "Now, the best way to drive a level up is through rare candy. Rare candy are expensive though, and thus we must do this the old fashioned way."

"Why not just have Charlotte pay for it?" Michael asked. "You never had any problem with her paying for stuff before."

"Charlotte has expenses." I replied, "Now Emily, to drive your level up…you gotta battle. I mean battle as long as you can until you're knocked unconscious. When you are knocked out, I will revive you, and then we will continue. Understood?"

"Yes! Commence knocking!" Emily chirped. I unclipped a pokeball.

"You've got type advantage against both Saya and Darheel, but I figure you need to fight something bigger then you. Darheel, you're up." Darheel appeared in a flash, towering over Emily. He blinked, and then looked down.

"Ah yes, Emily isn't it? I am Darheel, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Darheel crossed his right blade across his torso and bowed.

"You do not bow, you fight!" I screamed. "Emily, you try dodging, Darheel you slash." Darheel immediately began slash kicking at Emily, who jumped around them. "…That's not slashing."

"It is, just not with blades." Darheel replied. Of course. Emily just kept jumping, laughing as she did.

"You know, this is easy." Emily giggled, "I—" Darheel landed one blow. Then a second, third, fifth, twelfth, over and over. Emily hit the ground, out cold.

* * *

Two hours later we were back on the roof. Emily was swaying back and forth a little bit, fresh off a ride on the psychedelic dream machine. Darheel was also out, waiting patiently.

"I am most dreadfully sorry Ms. Emily," Darheel said, "I wish that I was not forced to do that, but it was Lady Angela's wish." Emily just nodded.

"Yeah, now we fight, I can do this, I'm the queen of Orre." Emily said, shooting off a cloud of sparks.

"That's a good place to start, Emily try electrocuting Darheel, Darheel you dodge and try to strike Emily." Emily fired off another cloud of electricity. Then she randomly fired off thunder bolts, one of them almost hitting me (I leapt out of the way). Darheel took one step to the left, another to the right, avoiding the bolts.

Now, I had brought my book I was putting together with info on Johto up with me, preparing an entry on Emily. I began writing fast, Emily's biggest problem was in front of me.

Emily could not control her electricity. Her thunder bolts just fired off at random, not hitting Darheel. Hell, they didn't even come close to him. They had an unusual amount of power, as shown by the burns where they hit and the fact that from a distance my hair was standing up. Power don't mean shit though if you can't hit anything.

Darheel calmly walked past the thunder bolts, none of them coming close, and scissor kicking Emily so hard she flew into a wall. Emily slid down to the ground, collapsing in a heap, out cold again.

* * *

"Alright, I think this will work."

"Angela, this is a stupid idea." Michael said.

"Silence!" I finished wrapping duck-tape around the top of Darheel's head. "I had to borrow"

"Steal"

"Steal a metal pole from a construction sight, I assume they won't mind." I stepped back to admire my handy work. "Not too shabby, if I do say so myself."

I had duck tapped a long metal rod to the back of Darheel's skull. It was angled, going between the center and left spike on his head. Darheel tapped it with his blade, and scratched the side of his head.

"Is this dangerous Lady Angela?" Darheel asked. "I'm very certain that humans like myself are not to be electrocuted."

"Uh, it's fine Darheel, drop a toaster into my bath tub all the time." I heard Michael mumble something about dropping it himself behind me, as I unclipped Emily's ball. "Emily come on out." I spun her ball, shooting her out onto the roof.

By now the sun had set, and Emily had had a few rides on the psychedelic dream machine. When she emerged, Emily stumbled back and forth a bit, before throwing up.

"Stop the world, I wanna get off." Emily looked up at Darheel, and sighed, pushing herself up. She paused, staring. "You got a metal thing sticking out of your head, is that normal?"

"Not normally Ms. Emily." Darheel said. "For today though I have been tapped with this metal stick from Lady Angela. Lady Angela, what do you call the stick that is attached to my head?"

"I dunno, nothing."

"I have been given by Lady Angela the Stick Of Nothing." I smirked at that one, I must admit. "I must presume we will now commence battling."

"Yeah. Do the same as earlier, Emily you just fire electricity. This time though, try to focus near Darheel. Darheel, stand absolutely still until she hits you once. Then you may dodge." Darheel sighed, and nodded. Emily began to fire off again.

Now before, Emily could almost sort of hit the air above Darheel, but had yet to really hit him. I hopped that by attaching the Lightning Rod of Nothing to his head, maybe Emily might be able to strike him. Am I a good trainer if I want to electrocute my pokemon?

It began as it did before, Emily shooting lightning off in every direction. Michael had gone back in side, and as I avoided bolts I wondered if I could join him. Darheel just yawned, tapping his blades. Then, the unthinkable happened.

The lightning bolts slowly moved foreword, closer to Darheel. Upward, near, and finally right at him. Then, one hit the metal pole.

Sparks shot off the pole, and Darheel's limbs went straight out. The tape around his head burned up, and Darheel fell to the ground, twitching. His left eye was shut while his right was stuck all the way open. It took about three minutes for him to stand up.

"That was extremely painful Lady Angela." Darheel said. "Are newborns supposed to be able to generate that much power?" I was looking at the metal bar on the floor, and the partially melted end. I turned to Emily.

"I **pant** felt **pant** like going **pant** all out." Emily said, before falling onto her side, out cold.

* * *

We were out again the next day. Me with another metal bar, taping it again to Darheel who seemed a bit nervous.

"Lady Angela, I feel I must remind you the last time we did that, a bar of metal melted slightly, and I was electrocuted. It was quiet quiet painful, are we sure we wish to do this again?"

"Yep, hold still." I wrapped the tape around the top of his head. Michael was behind me, holding a small device.

"Alright, I will be able to measure the voltage Emily gives off without having to touch anything too her, which is good. What worries me is that this machine was not well put together, and it may break. I'm also worried Charlotte will discover you used her money to pay for this."

"I'm nearly broke, when I beat Whitney, I'll pay her back." I said, unclipping and tossing Emily's ball. Emily emerged looking hangover, shaking a little as she stood up.

"I've been healed seven times now, is that normal?"

"Of course. Now, Darheel you're going to dodge lightning this time, do NOT strike Emily. Emily, just do what you did last time, Michael is going to be recording something for me." I turned back to him. "Emily, the amount of power you released was insane, a new born electric-type should not be melting metal. You nearly knocked out Darheel, which is also not normal, so we need to see just how much you can dish out. You also need to be able to hit a moving target." Emily sighed.

"But I spent all of yesterday doing this, can't we take the day off?"

"No!" I snapped. "You said you wanted to battle, you have to train. If you want to just go at your own pace, then we can stop. If you want to try and fight Whitney, you've got to train." Emily nodded.

"Ryan said don't give up." Emily mumbled. "I won't. Let's start again."

"You heard her Darheel. Jump around Emily, try to avoid lightning. Emily, try to direct you electricity at him." Darheel wearily started dancing around Emily, who spun in a circle just trying to see him. Emily tried firing off electricity, sending it every which way at first. After a few jolts, she managed to send it straight ahead.

Except, it didn't matter because now Darheel just didn't move directly in front of Emily. She turned, pulling her stream of electricity with her, and both me and Michael jumped when she turned our direction.

"Are you getting a volt reading?" I asked, leaping over the electricity.

"No, this thing burned out the moment she started firing!" Michael said. "I'm more worried about the level of damage we're doing to the roof. There are burns on the floor, the ledge, the door back in, we're going to have to pay for all of that."

"Emily!" I shouted, "Try sending your electricity in two directions. Bend the stream." Emily nodded, and grit her teeth. The electricity flowing off of her small body intensified, and then the stream split.

It looped completely around Emily, forming a perfect circle, hitting Darheel in the process. I ended up not needing the rod, since it struck him below the abdomen. Darheel exploded in a flurry of sparks, and was sent spinning off of the roof. I recalled him in mid-air before he fell to his death. I then ran over and picked up Emily.

"You did wonderful!" I laughed, "You—" Emily was out cold again, but no longer sparking. I just smiled. Michael came over to me.

"She'll still need more training."

"Yeah, but she'll be ready soon. Then I'll get to fight Whitney." Yeah, a rematch with Whitney. I couldn't wait.


	48. Fight The Cow

**AN: **I will be out of town and most likely unable to update next week, not sure. Untill then, read this chapter.

**XLVIII: Fight The Cow**

The day I was going to have my rematch with Whitney, Desiree was painting. More specifically, she was painting Anna on her bed, Gabriel at her feet, both asleep. I was going over moves in my head, Michael was back at the hotel with everyone else.

"I mean, if I can shoot it up with enough juice, it shouldn't matter how much that fucker spins, it'll get burned to a crisp. What do you think Desiree?"

"Did you know that da Vinci painted The Last Supper on dry plaster?" Desiree asked. "Trying to do a fresco without wet plaster. His idea was that, he could paint it on dry plaster. Admittedly I don't know if it still counts as a fresco then, but I am going to try to paint one with dry plaster!"

"Have you been listening too me?"

"Despite my best efforts, yes. Now, be quiet, I'm making this painting for you." Desiree continued to stroke the canvas, "I want to capture Anna at her weakest, but alive!" I looked at it.

The painting was…surprisingly good, a realistic depiction of Anna and Gabriel. It sort of looked like I could touch them through the canvas, if that makes any sense. Desiree stopped.

"I wanted to make this for you since I know you've been stressed about Anna and your rematch, but I don't think it's going to work. I only just started, and it's peeling already! I mean, the eggs I mixed in aren't bonding, it just sucks!"

"Where did you get a plaster canvas?" I asked.

"You don't want to know." Desiree responded. "I do hope your match goes well. I'll keep watching Anna, maybe I'll be able to fix this mess." I smiled, and hugged her.

"Thanks."

* * *

Emily, Saya, and Darheel were safe around my waste, Michael was beside me. We stood in front of the gym, neither one of us reaching for the door handle.

"Why did you not want Charlotte and Virgil here?" Michael asked.

"They-I get nervous, I am nervous. I don't want people watching me do this Michael. If I could keep you from being here, then I would." Michael just patted me across the back.

"Angela, there is no way in hell I'm not here with you." Michael said. "Don't worry, you're going to kick ass." I smiled.

"You know, they corrected the plaque." I said, pointing. Every gym in every region has a plaque beside the door, stating who the gym leader is and something about them. This one said 'Whitney-The Incredibly Pretty Girl'. Except, someone had painted an X on pretty, and wrote Whiney in its place. No argument.

Whitney's gym was as it had been the last time, bland. As I walked into the arena portion of the building, I was almost over whelmed by how average this gym is. Whitney was at the far end of the gym, sitting in her chair.

Actually, let me rephrase that. The bitch was fucking asleep! She had a chocolate bar half eaten on her shirt, a script on the floor, and drool dripping out the corner of her mouth. She started giggling.

"Yes, for the leading role I will sleep with both of you." She mumbled

"HEY!" Whitney jerked away, and fell backwards over her chair. She hit the ground with a hard crack. Sweet music.

"What's…are you here for a gym battle?" Whitney asked. Genius at work folks.

"Yes, I am Angela Duncan, here for a rematch." I snapped. Whitney just rolled her eyes at this, and unclipped one of her three pokeballs.

"If you must ruin my nap time, I must ruin your day. Fafa, come out now!" Fafa the Cleffa emerged in a happy little jump. Is their any pokemon more useless the Cleffa? I wonder.

"Darheel, you're first today." I said, pitching his ball out. Darheel emerged, blinking rapidly.

"I never will adjust too that bright light Lady Angela." Darheel said.

"Fafa, pound!" Fafa gently wobbled over, bouncing on its little stump legs. It gently tapped Darheel with a micro-fist. Darheel responded by kicking Fafa full force in the face.

"I got chocolate on my shirt." Whitney mumbled, "That'll—" Fafa struck Whitney in the face, and she got lodged in her mouth!

"Holy shit!" I laughed. Michael was off to the side laughing his head off. Whitney was mumbling something, while Fafa's tiny legs kicked pathetically. Some how, her mouth was so big, she got half of Fafa down her throat.

Whitney began to pull, and with a POP, Fafa emerged. Very confused and covered with drool, but alive. Fafa blinked, before Whitney tossed her out again.

"Sing!" Fafa began to sing…I think, the words were coming out a bit jumbled due to her being bitten and coated in drool. Darheel looked back at me and shrugged.

"Wing attack." I said. Darheel spread his wings out, and darted straight at Fafa. He struck her in the chest, but turned upward as he did. Catching her with his left leg, Darheel kicked Fafa straight at the ceiling. Whitney just kind of stared passively, not really caring. How did this woman become a gym leader exactly?

Fafa hit the ground, and Darheel stepped on her. Fafa's little limbs flailed, and then they stopped. Out cold, two left. Whitney withdrew Fafa, and unclipped the next ball.

"You know, it's bad enough you had to interrupt my nap time" Whitney whined, "But you had to hurt my Fafa. You're a mean person!"

"My Grovyle's broken legs sympathize." I said. "Send your next one you nimrod."

"Buff Buff, come too me!" Buff Buff the Igglybuff emerged. Somewhere, Pecha was screaming about being cuter.

"Darheel, false swipe, I want to test something." I said. Darheel ran straight at Buff Buff, who screamed and started jumping away. Thankfully, a one foot ball of goo is not as fast as a very large bladed insect. Darheel sort of kicked at Buff Buff, who shuddered, and rolled away with some damage.

"Now, slash!" Buff Buff was still rolling, when Darheel swung up and slash kicked the little pink fuck-ball. Buff Buff screamed, as a slash appeared across her back, but she didn't pass out. Too bad, I wanted to see if one False Swipe could knock one of Whitney's pokemon down to one hit point.

"Buff Buff, Sweet Kiss!" Buff Buff did it's little kiss thing, and immediately Darheel was….completely fine. He looked back at me, more confused that nothing had happened then by the kiss.

"Darheel, obliterate that thing. If you're worried that you might kill it, don't worry, do what ya gotta do."

"I shall comply Lady Angela." Buff Buff attempted to roll away, only for Darheel too swoop up on it. With a series of punches and kicks, the little ball went from pink to purple with bruises. Finally, with one swift blow, Buff Buff was done.

"Gah! How dare you knock out my Buff Buff!" Whitney whined, "You had no right too do that!"

"Yeah, how dare I actually try to win." I smirked, "I must just be a mean person huh?" Whitney just growled something, as she withdrew Buff Buff. She unclipped her final ball.

"Well, you know this old friend, come on out Mil Mil!" Whitney's god awful Miltank then emerged, in all its chunky glory. It looked at Darheel, grinning an annoying grin, only to watch me pull Darheel back.

"Thanks Dar" I said with a small grin, "I'll need you later."

"What are you doing!" Whitney cried, "Changing pokemon is cheating! Cheating!"

"It is not ya pussy." I said. "Now suck on my Shinx! Emily, your turn to fight this bitch." Emily emerged in a flurry of light, blinking rapidly. She smiled when she saw that damn Miltank.

"Yay, my first battle!" Emily chirped. "So, what do I do? Do I fight the cow-thing? Do I? Do I? Do I?"

"Yes, thunder shock!" Emily immediately zapped several bolts of electricity straight at Mil Mil, who rolled up into a ball. Of course.

"Roll-out!" Whitney said, striking a pose as she did. The ball that was Mil Mil began to spin, and took off straight at Emily. Emily ran and dove over Mil Mil, firing electricity as she did. Unfortunately, she still wasn't perfect at directing her bolts so only about half hit Mil Mil.

Mil Mil kept spinning, and began to turn at Emily. Emily fired off streams of electricity, which seemed to bounce off of Mil Mil. She rolled and dodged Mil Mil again. Mil Mil turned and flew back at Emily, this time hitting her target. Emily was struck in the back and sent skidding on her stomach. She pushed herself up, shaking her head.

"Owe. I got my bell rung." Mil Mil stopped spinning, and uncurled. I grinned.

"Emily, thunder-wave!"

Now, I came to a few realizations yesterday my dear listener. First, Emily can produce a lot of electricity. Second, Emily can only do it for a short period of time, should this become an extended battle, she'd be doomed. Third and finally, Emily still wouldn't be able to knock Mil Mil out with a thunder-shock. No way three days worth of training would get her strong enough. So, no matter what I did, this battle would get drawn out, and I needed a plan.

With that in mind, I made a plan. All of Emily's electricity is strong, both offensive and defensive. So, if I can't get her to harm the Miltank, I could get her to paralyze it. Against a higher leveled pokemon, maybe not, but at Mil Mil's level, I could paralyze her every time.

Mil Mil's body went limp, and it fell over, limbs stiff. I pulled out Emily's pokeball, withdrawing her and sending Darheel out. Paralysis usually lasts forty five seconds, so I had to move fast.

"Darheel, wing attack!" Darheel flitted at Mil Mil, wings out, and struck it the cow in the chest, driving it further into the hard wood. Mil Mil just seethed. Darheel slash kicked twice, when he was struck in the left knee by Mil Mil's can sized arm.

"Shit, Darheel return!" Darheel was with drawn and Emily tossed out. Whitney scowled as she saw my Shinx return.

"Ugh. You're cheating you know, using cheap strategy! Can you live being cheap?"

"Thunder-wave!" Mil Mil instantly went stiff, and Whitney froze in mid-scold. She growled again.

"HOW DARE YOU INTERUPT ME!" Whitney shrieked.

"You should have been paying attention, dumb ass." I said, recalling Emily. I tossed Darheel's ball out again. "Maybe this time that fucking Miltank will fall."

"Mil Mil, rollout!" Mil Mil stood there paralyzed due to being paralyzed. Darheel head-butted Mil Mil into the Earth, and slash-kicked several times. One last slam to its belly, when Mil Mil sprung back to life. I already had Darheel's ball out.

"Stop withdrawing your Scyther! It isn't fair!"

"Yeah, so unfair." I retorted, "Using rollout over and over again, knowing it's hard to get away from and keeps getting stronger, that's totally fair. Face it lady, I found a way to beat your Miltank, and you just can't stand it."

Now Whitney's face was red with rage, putting a smile on my face. I sent Emily out again, to do her thing. Emily was looking really tired, and a bit woozy on her feet, but stayed up.

Whitney looked at Emily and started…crying? She buried her head in her face, crying. Slowly, the crying stopped, and she looked up.

"Rollout!" Whitney rasped. I understand why Whitney was doing this, any other attack aside from rollout would leave Mil Mil vulnerable too paralysis, only rollout would keep Mil Mil immune. Even then though, Mil Mil would have to stop eventually. Whitney was still crying at this, and…God help me, I felt a little sorry. Only a little.

I didn't bother ordering an attack, no point in it. Emily was very tired, but still able to jump over the (slower moving) Miltank. Mil Mil was having trouble turning, and just wasn't moving fast anymore.

Emily kept running, breathing heavily, but was still out running Mil Mil. Mil Mil turned for a third run, and didn't even come close to hitting Emily. Finally, Mil Mil uncurled.

"Thunder wave." Emily blasted a sheet of electricity, which wrapped around Mil Mil, paralyzing it. "Congrats Emily." Emily looked back, smiled, and passed out from lack of energy. "Shit, sorry." I withdrew her, "Forgot, you're still new at all of this. Darheel, this is it!"

Darheel appeared for the last time. Without a command, he walked up to Mil Mil, still frozen, and sighed.

"I am dreadfully sorry Ms. I just wish for you to know, this is not personal." With that, Darheel delivered a sharp slash kick with his right leg across Mil Mil's torso. Mil Mil coughed, and collapsed limp on the floor. The ground rattled a little when the cow hit the ground.

Whitney fell to her knees, sobbing openly into her hands. Of course. I withdrew Darheel, and cautiously walked over.

"Whitney?" She just kept crying. "I-uh-Michael help me out."

"You're on your own." He called out. Asshole. I turned back to Whitney.

"I-uh-yeah I know this sucks, but you knew what you were signing up for. So, how about I get my gym badge and you go eat enough chocolate to feel better, kay?" Whitney looked up at me.

"…Cheater."

"Huh?" Whitney jumped up.

"Cheater! Cheater! You cheated me you faggot! You fucking clit licking tit suck faggot bitch whore! Cheater! Cheating asshole fucking bitch!"

"Fuck you lady! Give me my fucking badge!"

"NO! I will not reward cheaters! You fucking cheated you bitch whore! You…HEY WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Michael grabbed Whitney by the arms, pinning her arms behind her back.

"Angela, gym leaders carry their badges on them, try her pockets." I reached into Whitney's left pocket as she started kicking, screaming death threats and homophobic shit. No badges. I went into her right pocket, and she kicked me in the stomach.

"You bitch!" I slapped Whitney as she tried to bite me. I reached into her right pocket, and was rewarded with several pricks from the damn badge pins. "Mother fucker." Finally, I pulled out one pin, with minimal blood. "Let's get out of here." Michael let go of Whitney. Whitney, emotional stable person she is, responded by jumping on me and throttling me with both hands.

"Give me back my badge give me back my badge!"

"Get off her!" Michael grabbed her around the waste and pulled, but she held on tight. He started to pull her off of the ground, and the fucker still held on! Finally, I slammed my fist into her stomach.

Whitney let go, hands wrapped around her gut. She looked up at me. WHAM!

I punched her across the jaw, knocking her out. I looked at her, panting, and grinned.

"I got my Plain Badge."

Fuckin' A.


	49. No One Is Alone

**AN: **Well, the keys on my laptop broke a couple of weeks ago, they fell off and I couldn't get them back on. I took my laptop to Staples to get them repaired, and guess what? Not only did they NOT fix them, they said they weren't going to for a couple of days and I should just be happy that they would. I took my laptop back home since I didn't want assholes fixing it, and my parents tried to fix the keys. They failed so completely that they broke NEW keys off. It's been a looong few weeks.

Then, when I tried to upload it, I found an error. It's still there. I was able to use the history of my internet browser to get into the chapter post feature, and knew the SOASN story ID. For all I've done to get you this chapter, enjoy it!

**XLIX: No One Is Alone**

Desiree was supposed to be painting. The problem was, when Desiree got an idea for a project into her multi-colored head, she got a bit manic. Manic and sometimes did not sleep, but just sat in bed at night staring at the ceiling. As such, when sleep struck, it struck hard.

Desiree had collapsed in a chair, paint brush in hand, snoring. The plaster slab had been thrown out the window while Desiree screamed about unable to live as a fresco painter. Gabriel was curled up in a ball at Anna's feet, eyes open, watching the human girl sleep.

"I'm glad I'm not human. It would be a terrible life." Anna began to stir behind him. Gabe turned to her.

Anna's eyes were open now, and she was looking at her legs, blinking rapidly. She twitched the talons in her feet slowly.

"…So, it wasn't a dream." Gabriel sat up.

"You okay?" Anna sighed, and shook her head.

"Yeah-no. I mean, yeah my legs don't hurt, but no 'cuz I still ended up here. I-I dunno, I wish I weren't in this. Where's Angela?"

"No idea." Gabriel said, "She mentioned something about a rematch. Gym battle maybe? I don't know." Anna just sighed again.

"I woke up after a long time drugged, and she isn't here. I get hurt, she isn't here. After all that crap about never leaving me alone, she isn't here. What a shock."

"Anna, you've been drugged for several days." Gabriel said, "Angela was by your side for almost all of them, she only started leaving a couple of days ago because you were so drugged it seemed unlikely you would come out of it!" He stroked her talon, "Besides, you weren't alone, I was here." Anna smiled.

"Thanks. I know she didn't mean to leave me here, not mad at her, just mad at these metal contraptions." She groaned, "I-hate-this! I want out now! I want away from the city, I hate the city, I want to jump through the trees again!"

"…I never knew you felt like this." Anna chuckled.

"Yeah, I suppose you didn't. I've not told Angela much about this because I, I don't want to ruin her 'great journey' but I've hated this! Every time we go into a hotel room, the smells in the bed and carpet make me ill. I miss the sweet scent of the trees, the flowers perfume." Gabriel stared at her, eyes wide open. "What?"

"Nothing, I just didn't expect a torrent to come pouring out of you so soon after coming off those injections." Pokemon know what injections are, right? Uh, for all the time I've spent with pokemon, I never did find out if they knew what all these human terms were. Will say they did. "I kind of expected you to be, I dunno, calmer."

"I am calm…sort of. Sorry, this has, this is eating at me." Anna replied, "I said I didn't mind battling, I wasn't scared by it. That was a complete lie. It scares me so much, and now look what happened! I got hurt!"

"Lot's of pokemon get hurt. Lot's of them get hurt battling."

"They want to battle! I don't! I hate doing this, I only do it because Angela wants me too, and I feel grateful to her and all but I want it to stop! I bet I even know where Angela is!"

"Where?" Gabriel asked.

"That gym. Having a rematch. With that stupid reborn Shinx. Another reborn, trained to fight for me, in my place, to take my place."

"Now you're being paranoid."

"You're not paranoid if they all want to replace you." Anna retorted. "Angela is though, I know it! I mean, I don't know it, and I can't prove it, but I know it!"

"Where did all this paranoia come from?" Gabriel asked. "In the two months we've been together, I've never once seen you afraid of Angela getting rid of you. Why did you never mention that?"

"Why? You want to know who my last trainer was? A woman who locked me in a ball for" Anna shivered as she spoke, "For so long I forgot what real sunlight was like. Then when Angela released me, I thought I could trust her, I though she was more stable. Want to know what I learned about humans though?"

"What?"

"None of them are stable! Angela fights with your Michael, fights with Charlotte, fights with Saya! I love Angela, I do, but she seems to unstable. She got super mad at Charlotte for being a "capture...something", whatever it is. I don't know, but she wanted Charlotte to leave because of it! She was so angry at her! What if I do something like that?"

"Become a capture whatever?" Gabriel asked.

"No, what if I say something that makes Angela really mad? Charlotte was at least human, you can't put humans in a ball and leave them alone for a long time. I mean, what about me though? She was so mad at Charlotte, what if I do that and Angela doesn't want me anymore? What if my legs don't heal right? What if I can't battle anymore, and she wants to replace me!" Anna was starting to hyperventilate.

"Calm down! Calm down! Listen to me, breath in" Anna took a breath, "And out." Anna exhaled. "Good. Now tell me, who would Angela replace you with?"

"That stupid reborn Shinx." Anna said. "They were both human once. That's something Angela and I don't have in common. Plus, she's spending all her time with that stupid Shinx."

"Emily is a newborn, she can't even feed herself."

"She was human! How does she not know how to do that? She should know everything that a human knows." Anna's eyes were bugging out. Gabriel wondered if he touched them, if they would fall off onto the bed.

"I don't know if it works that way, I could be wrong. Besides, just because she's spent the last several days with Emily, training with Emily, away from you does not mean she's spending all her time with Emily!" Anna's eyes bulged even further back, and she collapsed into the pillow behind her head.

"She's spent all her time training Emily. She wasn't here with me, she was training Emily. Emily the human, Emily the Shinx-human, Emily whose going to win for Angela and replace me, and I'll go back into the ball and-and-and" By now Gabriel was holding her shoulders, staring Anna in the eyes.

"Anna focus! I'm here, don't worry I'm here." Anna nodded, and started breathing slowly.

"Thanks, I uh needed that. I don't know, I know I'm being paranoid but I don't care. I'll do the smart thing and just bury those feelings deep inside, and they'll go away eventually."

"I don't think that's the smart thing to do…" Gabriel said, "But I trust your judgement. Besides, you don't have to worry about being alone, you were never alone here."

"Really?" Anna asked with a slight smirk, "and who was here with me?"

"Well, I was." Anna's smirk dropped. "I figured you'd want someone to be with you, so it was the least I could do. I mean, if I were in a hospital, I'd want someone with me the whole time."

"But…Gabriel I don't like you. I've never liked you. I've been nice to you, but the first time I spoke to you, your penis was erect. Time has not changed that, often when I talk to you, it's erect, and I do not believe that to be a good thing."

"It's a wonderful thing when it's used properly." Gabriel said with a smile. "Besides, just because I have a grass-type fetish does not mean I wish anything bad about you. In fact, I wish you to help me use it properly."

"If you're smart enough, you can use it properly with someone else. Maybe Michael can help you." Gabriel for a second looked like he was going to burst out laughing. "Gabe, I do not like you! I just don't, nothing you've done, I just do not like you."

"For Angela you bury your feelings, for me you shout it from the roof tops." Gabe murmured. "Well Anna, you don't have to like me, I just have to like me twice as much to make up for it, wouldn't you agree?"

"No."

"Well, we'll just agree to disagree." Gabe said. Anna moaned.

"Why are you doing this to me? I'm not going to like you, I don't want to be your friend. You don't have to be here with me." Gabe smiled.

"You don't have to like me. I do have to be here with you though."

"No you don't! Tell me, what reason are you still here?"

"You don't like being alone." Gabe stated. "I don't like seeing you unhappy, so I decided to stay here with you. I knew you would be unhappy, I knew you'd be scared if Angela wasn't here, so I wanted to cheer you up when you woke up."

"I-uh-thanks?" Anna asked. "I'm very confused. I tell you I do not like you, but you do this. I don't uh know."

"No reason." Gabe said. "You're a grass-type, so you fit my fetish. That's not just it though, I just like you Anna. You're kind, fun, even though you're scared you still do things. I didn't know you did them so you wouldn't be rocking the boat, but it still counts."

"…Thanks." Anna said. "I still am not fond of you, but I am willing to try to be your friend. If you, uh, will forgive me?" Gabe stroked her leg.

"Anna, there is nothing to forgive, ever." Without warning, the door to the room swung open. Anna and Gabriel turned, while Desiree jerked awake, and fell out of her chair.

"Guess who just kicked pink haired skank ass!" I exclaimed, hopping into the room.

"Guess who got fined three grand for assaulting a gym leader." Michael said, following me in. "All of the money you got for beating Whitney. Up in smoke. Money we were going to use to repay Charlotte. You're not listening." I walked over to Anna's bed, and kneeled down beside her.

"How're you?"

"Fine. Not drugged."

"You want me to fix that? I can get you morphine, or heroine if you need something stronger." Anna thought about it.

"What's heroine?" You've gotta love Anna, you do. I just smiled, and pulled out my brand new Plane Badge. It was a blank, bland looking diamond. Anna tapped it, and licked it. "Doesn't taste good. This is what I broke my legs for? What does it do?"

"It means I only need five more badges!" I said. "Well, unless I loose more then three times at any gym, then they'd take them away. That won't happen though."

"This makes me being stuck in this plaster room completely worth it." Anna said sarcastically. "Can I get out of here?"

"They said another three days. Then we can go." Anna moaned, and flailed around. I started to pick up Gabe.

"Leave him." Anna said. I nodded, and dropped Gabe. "Where are the others?"

"Back at the hotel room. Where Desiree is going." Desiree looked up.

"I wasn't planning—"

"Where Desiree is going." Desiree finally took the clue, and headed out. I collapsed in a chair beside Michael.

"It's been a good day." Michael said, stroking me knee.

"Yeah."

"Really good. It's getting easier. Trust me, things will be fine, Anna will get better, and will be headed off again."

"I really hope you're right."

* * *

Their were three Tabernacle Of The Sun buildings in Goldenrod, miles apart. The largest was at the center, a ten story stone tower and chapel. The tower had a bell on top that rang every four hours.

In an office on the middle floor of the tower, two figures sat in a room. It was a small office with a desk, a few chairs, and a telecom system set up. On the wall was a projector screen, and on it were the images of Alexander and Phoebe.

"You know why you have been selected." They said to the two figures. One figure was a muscular man, with dirty blond hair, a broken nose, and rotting teeth. The other was a thin woman, with stringy black hair, and a general unwashed appearance.

Their names were Jed and Stephanie, but it didn't matter. They were puppets, former homeless taken in and molded into tools. They had free will, they did nothing unless Alexander and Phoebe allowed for it to happen. The twins themselves had been the ones to mold Jed and Stephanie. "Tell us unit one, what is your job?"

"M-My job is to target Duncan, Angela." Jed stated. "To target her and to force her in to a mental battle. Force her by any means necessary."

"What is the second part of your job?" They asked.

"I am to draw out the battle, and I am to loose." Jed said. The twins smiled.

"Very good." They said, turning their attention to Stephanie. "Unit two, display the gift we gave to you." Stephanie reached in to the folds of her robe. She withdrew a sterling silver knife with a golden sun on the hilt of the blade. "What is your job?"

"My job is to take the sixth sacrifice, the first sacrifice taken." Stephanie said, voice empty, eyes glazed over. "I am to wait till night, when clouds block out the moon and stars. I am to find someone, preferably female, to inspire great fear in. I am to take her life, to give the Goddess the sixth emotion, of fear. This will bring us closer to the event." The twins nodded.

"You must realize that you will most likely die in this. Your sacrifices will not be forgotten units, and you will dwell with the Goddess." Jed and Stephanie felt no fear though, nor any real emotions. They just knew this is what they had to do, because they had been told to do it. No fear.

"Go and get rest now. Spend the day resting and meditating, tomorrow you will do as the Goddess commands. She shall be pleased."

"Yes superiors." The two of them headed out.

In Olivine City, Alexander and Phoebe waited. In two days, they would be traveling to the Brass Tower to retrieve the wraith, and prepare for the Duncan girls arrival. Tomorrow, the second half of the Ten Emotions began.

It was going to be a long few days.


	50. The Man With No Face

**L: The Man With No Face**

Jed approached the pokemon center, his robe pulled tight over his head. Nothing was going through his mind, except a voice.

_I am your goddess._

He moved foreword.

_You will do what I say_

Jed entered the pokecenter. Not Milotic stood over him and kept whispering.

_And it will be good._

* * *

Gabe and Anna were both asleep, completely stone still. Michael and I watched them, neither of us speaking. Anna's chest was moving slowly up and down, her left arm twitching.

"They're cute, you know." Michael said.

"Yeah. If he touches her with his cock, I'll rip it off and make you eat it." I said. "Believe me, I am dead serious."

"I don't doubt it." Michael said. "So, you've finally won your very boring badge from a very bitchy gym leader. How does that feel?" I squealed.

"Oh, it feels soooo good." I said, grinning from ear to ear. "Punching that pink haired bimbo bitch in the nose, hell cracking her nose, it made me so…"

"Horny." Michael mumbled. The moment he said it, you knew he wanted to take it back. As the Drunken Duncans always said though, you can't unpuke after a bender. "Uh, you didn't hear that."

"Yes I did." I snapped. "Now, don't yell."

"Why would I yell?" I slammed my fist into Michael's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He bent over, coughing, but he was polite enough to not yell.

"That's why." Michael just nodded, and sat up again. "Why on earth would you say it made me horny? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Sorry, it slipped out…and I am." By now he was blushing, he wanted to stop talking, but it was now coming out like a flood. "I'm just, I mean, you looked so hot after you beat Whitney and I could only think about, uh, you know." I rolled my eyes.

"You know why we haven't had sex yet Michael?"

"Is their any way for me to get out of this conversation?" Michael moaned.

"Because I want this relationship we have to be special. We'll fuck when it feels right." Yes my dear listener, I always did possess the eloquence of a poet. "Every relationship I've ever had has gotten screwed up by screwing them. I mean, it's been like this since I was eleven!" Michael just stared at me. "What?"

"Eleven? I'm a virgin, despite my best efforts, and you began at eleven?"

"No, I said my relationships have been hurt by sex since I was eleven, try and keep up. Anyways, I must have fucked seventy guys in school, and do you know how many of them I had a deep relationship with? None of them! I might as well have been a heated blow-up doll to those people!" No my dear listener, I don't see how your mother would object to this story. "Do you get what I'm saying?" Michael's eyes had almost bulged out of his head, and his jaw was on his lap.

"I-wow. You've lead one hell of a life." I shook my head.

"You know, you can be an insensitive dick sometimes." I said, standing up. "I need to take a walk."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No."

* * *

I walked through the nearly empty halls of the pokecenter, trying to get my head straight. In spite of the crap I said to Michael, and believe me it was crap, I still didn't know just why I didn't want to do it wit him. I just felt uncomfortable, whenever he started kissing me, I started to panic.

"I'm loosing my mind." I mumbled. The lights were off, and the only light came from lights in the parking lot. It was raining, and all I could hear was the steady rainfall. I couldn't hear any pokemon stir, or the sounds of foot steps. That's why when I walked by what I thought was an empty room, I couldn't hear a robed figure step out.

"Angela." I turned, and was greeted by a tall man in a golden robe.

"Oh fuck."

"The goddess says use your mental gift." The man's face was dirty and his hair was wild, but his eyes! The eyes were empty, they didn't see me, they didn't see anything. "Use your gift."

"Leave me a—" The man grabbed my throat. I tried to scream, only manage a gurgling noise. Arms strong, hands tight, can't breathe, can't escape. My arm glowed, and I slammed my tattooed hand into his face…

* * *

…Sending me spiraling into his mind. My mental plain was the same it always was, a barren and comforting desert. Kind of like parts of Hoenn. You want to know what a big sand flat is not? Comfortable to land on!

"Gaaaaah!" I hit the ground face first, not being injured slightly. Of course not, I'm not actually in a desert, but it did hurt a lot. I pushed myself up, onto all fours. "Sand hurts. So does my neck!" I rubbed my very sore neck, but it still hurt. "Alright, now what do I see?"

I see my mental desert, but at the other end I could see a sanctuary. It looks like the inside of a church or…tabernacle, with candles, benches, tables, all the works. The most notable thing though, were two tapestries hanging from the ceiling.

"I always knew she was a vein bitch." The tapestries had Milotics on them, in the center of large orbs, presumably the sun. Not Milotic, she just couldn't resist the chance to show that she ran her followers minds.

The loon in a robe stood in the center of the sanctuary, his back turned to me. The hood of his robe was down, giving me a good view of his nasty, grease ball hair. I stood up, and begun to creep towards him.

"Alright fucker, I don't know what you want" I snarled, "But you wanted me in your mind. Well, here I am, turn around and fight me!" The man slowly swung around. "Yeah that be-oh my God."

The man had no face. Where their was supposed to be a face, was smooth white skin. No eyes, nostrils, not a thing, a blank slate. He looked at me (I guess) and I took a step back.

Their were two pokeballs attached to his waste by silver cord, in contrast too my four. The red cord I had seen before was also attached to me, and still stuck straight out before ending without warning. The faceless man reached down, and unclipped one of the pokeballs.

"Shit!" I reached, and grabbed one pokeball, only to be reminded that they weren't labeled. "Given that Anna doesn't have a pokeball, labeling them in the real world probably wouldn't matter." I opened the ball, allowing the energy to flow over me. Instantly, I was pitched onto all fours.

"…This is Emily's." I said, looking at the blue, black, and yellow energy armor around me. The man with no face opened his ball.

Instantly he was coated in energy, which revealed a suite of Tyranitar armor. Oddly, despite the imposing stature, I'm glad he was a Tyranitar then say, a Larvitar. He wasn't immune to electricity.

I felt electricity flow through me, up through my back, and arc right at the man with no face. A thunderbolt straight at its chest, which naturally cracked the armor severely. Or rather, not.

What I mean is, his Tyranitar suite cracked after one attack, I just didn't expect it too. To be honest, I had no idea how strong these suites were, or what made them strong, but you would expect a Tyranitar one to be durable.

"Guess not." Also, word of advice. When in the middle of battle, never stop to ponder how durable a Tyranitar suite is. You wont be paying attention, and wont notice when the Tyranitar pulls a rock out of the ground and hurls it at you full force.

A rock slammed into my face, sending me flying backwards, into the desert portion of the battle field. I landed on my back, my tail pinned under me, pieces of rock all over me. I flipped back on all fours.

"Okay, that did not feel" WHAM!

Faceless ran and slammed into me, once again sending me through the air. As I began to fall, he threw a rock that smashed against my head as I hit the ground. Faceless threw another rock, but I rolled out of the way and it smashed into the ground.

"Alright, let's try this." I fired off a thunderwave, which covered faceless and his Tyranitar suite. He was crouching to pull out another rock, and froze in crouch. "Yes!" I laughed, grinning. I slowly approached, wary that he was still frozen.

Faceless just looked…near me? How do you describe the expression of someone with no face? The point is, he wasn't moving, and I began zapping him full force. Volts poured off my body, striking Faceless on the chest. All of a sudden, his arm came unfrozen, and ripped a boulder out of the ground.

"Oh shit." Faceless smashed the rock onto the back of my head. I did not fall, I let it shatter on my head, and continued pouring out electricity. The Tyranitar suite continued to crack, and finally shattered into a thousand pieces of thought energy. I looked at the pieces, then at Faceless.

"There is no way in hell that that should have been so easy. No way" Faceless responded by unclipping his next pokeball. "Of course."

The ball opened, releasing an Alakazam suite onto Faceless. Complete with two energy spoons, gripped in both hands. He crossed the spoons, and fired a psybeam straight at me.

With a gasp, I leapt out of the way, avoiding the explosion of the ground. I fired off a few thunder bolts, avoiding more psybeams.

"Shit, this sucks." I ran at Alakazam and leapt, preparing to bite. For my trouble, Faceless slammed his fist into the side of my head, sending me into the ground. Faceless then fired another psybeam, cracking my armor.

I ran, as fast as I could on my four legs. Incidentally, running on all fours with only two legs really hurts, even if the pain was mental. I avoided another two psybeams, only to get hit by a psychically thrown rock.  
"Owe! Why, what is up with this guy and rocks?" My armor cracked, in fact now a circle of cracks appeared around my chest. "You know what? Emily barely knows any attacks."

Faceless used a confusion attack, and rather then avoid it, I let it hit me full force and shatter my Emily suite. Unfortunately, I was stunned, and he threw yet another rock.

"Crap!" I rolled, and narrowly avoided being pulverized by a rock, while opening another pokeball. Instantly, I found myself in the familiar Grovyle suite. "Awesome. Now I can kick some ass."

Grovyle are fast, and I'm fast when I am one. I ran and head butted Faceless in the chest, sending him onto his ass. I was rewarded with a blast of psychic energy to the face, sending me spinning. He stood up again, and faced me.

"Alright, try this." I jumped and slammed my head leaf into Faceless. Without warning, a blade of psychic energy shot off Faceless's arm, hitting me in the stomach and cracking my suite.

"For fucks sake, die!" I used absorb, pulling little energy globs off of Faceless, and causing small cracks to appear on his suite. Faceless prepared to psybeam again, but I quick attacked into his legs, knocking him down again. "Die die die!" Wham-wham-wham-wham!

Over and over I slammed my head leaf into Faceless, while he feebly tried to use another psybeam or psycho-cutter. I slammed the leaf again, and absorbed more energy, desperately trying to kill Faceless.

"Yes!" The suite shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving Faceless on the ground. His body went limp, prepared for his fate.

"Greetings Angela."

I froze, unable to attack Faceless. I knew that voice, I'd heard that voice a thousand times. Slowly I turned, greeted by Not Milotic hovering behind me.

"You…"

"Don't bother trying to attack me Angela." Not Milotic said, "I'm not actually here, this is a projection of my person." She floated past me, looking down at Faceless. "Do you want to finish him off? I can wait."

"Why are you here?" I asked, "Don't you have children to eat or people to brainwash?" Not Milotic smirked.

"Brainwash? I suppose the world needs that, doesn't it. Look at this specimen in front of you." I looked down at Faceless. "This is an ideal example of what the world will look like when I'm done with it.

"His mind is a blank slate. Everything he is, I have allowed for him to have. He is obedient, calm, he never does anything wrong, it is as I have dictated it to be. He is the perfect human, with no passion, thoughts, and no desire to create havoc."

"It's sick." Not Milotic just sighed.

"Why must you assume I am evil Angela? Have you considered that I may not be the one trying to destroy the world? That perhaps I am trying to save it?"

"Given that me and Michael nearly died in your salvation attempt? No, I don't think you're trying to save it bitch."

"Well, you'd be wrong Angela. Right and wrong I suppose, yes I do want to burn the world. I wish to see the ground covered in human blood, till the rives run red with it, but not because I want to bring misery."

"Really? Could have fooled me." Not Milotic ignored me.

"I will wash the world clean Angela. I will remove all dangerous influences from it, that existed when I walked upon it as a human. I will stop the human race from destroying themselves, and give them unity with pokemon.

"Why are you telling me this?" Not Milotic smirked.

"Simple. Because I'm going to attempt another tactic. Angela, you put so much trust in the Titan's, even though you loath them. You still don't fight them, yet you fight me. Why?"

"Why! You've tried to kill me several times! You've tried manipulating me for your own reasons that I don't really get. You need more?"

"You speak of me using you, manipulating you." Not Milotic whispered, "Yet, you do not have any problems with the Titans."

"Of course not…what're you getting at?" I swear she was smirking even more now.

"Angela, the Titans want you to do something for them. They're using you, hell they're worse about it then I am. At least I admit I try to eliminate you, or use you for my own ends. Your to stupid to see what's in front of your face. The Titans need you to do stuff for them, they're just as bad as me. I'm telling you the truth."

"If you don't mind me saying" I said, "If you told me a turd tasted like shit, I doubt I would believe you." Not Milotic just nodded.

"Alright. Before I depart you Angela, let me just say this. When the time comes for me to implement the end game of my plan, you will not only help me, you'll help me willingly." I laughed.

"That's your new tactic? Telling me things that will never happen?"

"It is. It's more effective then you know, or it will be, you'll see." Not Milotic began to fade away. "By the way, that red cord is longer, did you notice?"

"Longer, what do you" I glanced down. The red cord still stuck out to the side, and it was longer. It was almost double in length. "Shit, that's weird."

Faceless jumped, and tried to strangle me. I responded by smashing his head, shattering out link, and destroying his mind.


	51. When May Comes Again

**LI: When May Comes Again**

Immediately I emerged, and was falling backwards.

"Shit!" Faceless's arms flopped across my shoulders and he landed on top of me as I hit the ground. Faceless's eyes were completely blank, and blood was dribbling out of his mouth. "Help! I need help!"

* * *

"So he just collapsed?"

"Well, he stumbled and I ran to grab him, then he collapsed on to me."

"Thank you Ms. Duncan."

Michael tightened his hold around me, and I let him. I could feel his heart beat, felt warmed by his body, something I desperately needed right now. The single police officer had questioned me, while EMT's moved Faceless away. Several nurses, orderlies, and trainers had shown up on our hall, despite it being the middle of the night, just to watch the spectacle.

"You are so brave." Michael whispered, "I don't know that I could do it."

"Thanks." Probably not the correct response, but what is the correct response in a situation like this? I just turned a man's brains into pudding, and they were dragging his limp body out on a cart. Thankfully, a lack of security cameras and lack of bruises on my neck meant they couldn't disprove my story. They just had to trust me.

I watched the two EMT's roll the stretcher with Faceless onto the elevator shaft. His eyes were still empty, and his mouth gaped half open. Frankly, it was scary. Finally, the doors shut, and the excitement ended.

Michael took me back into Anna's room. I leaned into his chest, tired, waiting for my long day to end. Anna was still asleep, as was Gabe. Oddly, despite my screams, the two of them had never woken up. I could just feel the love.

"I wish you'd go back to the hotel." Michael said.

"I'll spend it there tomorrow." I mumbled, "Right now I just want to be with Anna. We'll have to tell the others tomorrow, that'll suck."

"I know." Michael said, "They need to know though, this isn't the first time that you've been attacked. Angela, what if it happens again?" I shrugged.

"I dunno."

"Well, we need to tell them. Did we tell them last time? No, we didn't think to I guess. Why did we not tell them?"

"Because being attacked is par for the course with me, I didn't know they'd send another one after me."

"You said being attacked is normal for you! Did you just assume that after one person attacked you, they'd leave you alone?"

"Kind of." Michael just shook his head in irritation. "Alright, I remember we were going to tell them what happened…we just didn't. Ever. They didn't know I was a reborn yet, and when they did find out we didn't tell them."

"That was a mistake." Michael said. He was right, but I did NOT know it at the time. I would learn very soon, but for now I just shrugged.

"Meh, it's been fine so far. I wasn't exactly planning on being attacked again."

That's just it, you never expect to be attacked or stalked, it just happens to you. Even years later, I sometimes wonder about the cosmic joke that is my life, why me? I do know now why me, but not really. You'll understand later.

"So, you going to sleep?" Michael asked. I shook my head.

"How can I sleep?" I asked. "In all honesty, it's been such a long night, it'll be tomorrow before I can sleep."

"Kay. I'll stay up with you." I smiled.

"Thanks Michael."

* * *

"So, the guy had a heart attack and collapsed on you?" Desiree asked, a squeal in her voice. "That is so awesome! I wish I had been here to paint his death, death is the hardest thing to capture on canvas, you need to see it happen."

"Why would you want to capture death?" I asked.

"It's real." Desiree replied. It was the next day, and Charlotte, Desiree, Virgil and all of our other pokemon had come to wait with Anna. I was leaning into Michael, who was holding me up. The entire room was spinning, or I may have just been really tired, which ever is more realistic.

"You're not out of these yet?" Rush chirped, standing on Anna's chest. Anna let out a slow breath.

"No, my legs are still as broken as they were the last time I checked, but I'll be out in two days."

"Pecha's might would have allowed I who is Pecha to heal her own legs in half the time!"

"Then use your might to heal Anna." Gabe said.

"Pecha's might works only for Pecha!" The Worthless Rejects were on Anna's bed, crowded around and on her. I wanted to protest, but I could barely move. Only Darheel wasn't on there, he stood behind Anna asleep, blades across his chest.

"I'm sorry for ya." Trish said, perched on one of the riggings. "I can't imagine not moving. Anything I can do for you?" Anna smiled.

"No Gabe…he's done enough." Gabe now smiled, and lay his head across her stomach. "I'll be out in a few days, with any luck."

"So, are you guys going to go back to the room?" Charlotte asked me. I nodded, trying to keep myself standing up while doing so. "Tired?" That Charlotte, she's a master of observation.

"Angela is tired." Michael said, "I'm going to get her back. We'll come back here tomorrow, but please don't disturb us." I think they all confirmed that they wouldn't, I don't remember what happened next. In fact, I remember nothing, until we were back in the hotel room. I remember hitting the bed.

Then nothing.

* * *

I had dreamless sleep, and my body felt thrashed when I finally awoke. Every muscle ached, like I'd been hit by a meat mallet repeatedly. I was still dressed, under the covers, which incidentally weighed a small ton. My clothes stunk, and I needed a shower.

"Heh, I reek of shit." I giggled. "Why am I laughing about this?"

Michael was on top of the covers beside me, arm draped across my chest, asleep. I slipped out from under him, and he didn't wake up. "Let him sleep, he needs it."

I got a quick shower, and got dressed. As I did, Michael woke up, and of course, did not tell me.

"You know, your body looks better every time I see it." I shrieked, and flipped around, seeing Michael grin at me. "Incidentally, you might want to dry off better next time."

"Why?"

"Because your wearing an almost completely white T-shirt and no bra. You really need to keep that area dry." I walked over and slapped him upside of the head.

"Pervert." I flopped down beside him.

"I may be, but you love me anyway." I smirked.

"Yes, yes I do." I said. "Michael, we need to talk about something."

"Really?"

"Yep" I stood up again, "But I need a soda."

Truth be told, I didn't need a soda, I needed to know what I was going to say.

"Ugh, I hate this emotion bullshit. Don't need emotions, make life to fucking hard." The elevator I was on was empty, and cold air was blasting. I was shivering slightly in the cold.

Their were a couple of vending machines in a room attached to the lobby. Inside were two other people, though I barely noticed them.

"Shit." It was at that moment I realized, I only had a five on me. "Uh, you got change for a five?"

The woman beside me was a foot taller then me, had a head shaved into three spikes, and was dressed in all leather and metal. She looked a little like a bondage slave.

"Sure, I got something." She reached into…I have no idea, and pulled out a single bill. As she did, the man behind us took out a camera. He took a picture, no flash, and walked out of the room. We didn't notice.

"Really? I mean thanks, but I just wanted change."

"Nah, keep it. I'm having a good day, spread the wealth, all that crap."

"Well, thanks." I said. She smiled, and left. I grabbed a grape soda, and leaned against the machine. "Now I get to go see Michael, marvelous. This suuuucks."

It still sucked when I got back up to our room. The blinds were still shut, and Michael was on the bed, eyes closed, smile on his face.

"You know, it's nine o'clock."

"Really? We were sleeping twelve hours?" I shut the door. "I didn't notice. I probably should have." I came over, and fell down beside him. "Do you know how much I like soda?"

"Angela, you drank so much soda that you were fat enough to count as three girls before you died." Michael said. I punched him, but smirked.

"Thanks for reminding me." I sighed. "I don't know if I can fuck you."

"How romantic."

"I'm serious! I mean, Michael I don't know if I can. It's…I don't know what it is. It's my life."

"It's your life?" Michael asked, "What on Earth does that mean?"

"It means, it means what my life was. As much as I hate to admit it, dying and being reborn was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. Before that, I was a selfish, stupid, bitch. I spent most of my life drinking, smoking, and fucking."

"Angela—"

"Shut up, I'm rolling. Everything I touched I turned to shit, and I blamed someone else. The drunken Duncans, Robin, my teachers in school, the color of the sky, anything that wasn't me. I-I hated everything, and nothing in my life had any meaning. It was all physical.

"I don't want our relationship to be all physical. I want us to be, uh, I don't know really. Just more then fucking thrusting."

"It will be Angela."

"I don't know that!" I shouted. "S-Sorry, it's just, any time I had a guy and we fucked, the relationship turned from good, to sex, to shit. Me and the guy fought, we'd break up almost immediately after."

"Angela! That's not going to happen with us." Michael seemed frustrated, but also concerned, if that makes any sense. "I love you, but those 'relationships' you talk about, were sex. All sex, all the time. You know why you fought with those people? Because, aside from sex, you had nothing!"

"Michael"

"No, now it's my turn to talk. Angela, unlike them, we actually have something. I love you, I have for so long it makes me ill thinking about it. We've gone through death and life together, and no matter how bad things get, they'll always get better." I smiled.

"When May comes again."

"What?"

"That's uh a saying I made up. Anything good happening is May, because of school. In school life sucked, and it ended in May. When it ended life immediately got better. So no matter how bad things get, May will come again."

"Yeah." Michael whispered, "Things will always get better." I smiled and moved in closer. Our lips met briefly. "Is it time?"

"Yes. It's time."

* * *

The woman in leather was named Lydia. She was twenty-three years old. She had a sister she hadn't spoken to in a long time. She was considering getting an Arbok tattooed on her stomach. She was only in this hotel because her apartment was getting repaired du to water damage.

Upon leaving the lobby, Lydia had been headed up to her hotel room. She made it to her door, when a woman in a robe walked up behind her. Lydia didn't even notice, until she was tasered.

Stephanie watched Lydia collapse, and reached into her robe. She found a syringe filled with a clear liquid, a poison created by Archer of the Seventh Order. He said he had created it specifically for her mission.

"No questions." Stephanie injected it into a mole on Lydia's leg.

* * *

My clothing hit the floor quickly, his soon after. Michael moved across me, exploring my body. I couldn't-can't describe it.

"D-Don't stop."

"I won't. Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

* * *

When Lydia reopened her eyes, she was naked. The cold air in her rooms had made her nipples hard. A sock was in her mouth, her arms bound behind her , her ankles bound together, stuck on the middle of the bed. Her heart was racing.

Above her stood a woman with a blank face, in a yellow robe. The woman looked down at Lydia.

"I am not sorry for what I must do." She whispered, "I know you do not know why this is happening. You were there. Remember that, you will loose your life because you were there."

* * *

Michael circled my nipple with his tongue, eliciting a moan from me. I pressed him against me.

"Thank you." I whispered. He paused.

"For what?"

"For being there."

* * *

The woman now stood held a knife in her hand, poised above Lydia. Lydia could feel sweat roll down her back, as the woman pressed the knife against the inside of her legs.

"Feel this." She whispered, "Feel how cold it is, how hard it is. Know it, it will penetrate you. It will be the end of you lady. You will die here, I will take your life from you." The woman nicked Lydia's stomach, earning a squeal of fear.

Lydia couldn't breathe, or think, her heart raced faster.

"Nothing you have done has meant anything. Your own death is meaningless. Had you been anywhere else, you would still be alive. Realize that what comes next is the same. A void, you will be alone for all of eternity, with the knowledge that your death meant nothing."

* * *

I knew it was time. Michael knew it too.

He entered me, filled me. I could not breathe for a second.

"Be gentle."

"I will." He lied.

Thank God.

* * *

Lydia was crying, crying out of fear. The woman rubbed the knife against her face. Lydia's heart was pounding, trying to break out of her chest. Her chest was hurting, she couldn't calm down, too afraid.

"Know it, know every moment of this." She moved it down Lydia's body. "I can feel your fear, your heart racing." She rubbed it between her breasts. "Know that you will die." Lydia's eyes bulged. The woman smiled.

"Now die." The woman pulled the knife up, and brought it swinging down. Lydia's eyes bulged and her body went rigid. The knife stopped, the tip of it touching Lydia's skin, but it didn't matter.

"It is finished." Lydia went limp, eyes rolling into the back of her head, dead of a fear induced heart attack.

* * *

"I love you Michael"

"I know. I love you too Angela."

"I know."

* * *

Not Milotic watched the death from her place between reality. Mew and Not Qwilfish watched with her. The five souls in a chain around Not Milotic glowed.

"Fear." A sixth soul appeared, continuing the circle. It still wasn't complete though. Four were missing. "Four souls, then I will cleanse the world. Then I will take from Angela Duncan. She has no idea."

"That's the Titan's own fault." Mew said, "But their stupidity will be our advantage." Not Milotic nodded.

"We must send more soldiers against Angela, including the wraith. The power she has as a future Supreme Titan must be drawn out."

"Why not just go after her now?" Not Qwilfish asked, "You were willing to kill her before! You didn't care about Excelsior then, you just wanted the Duncan girl dead."

"That's because my old plan was short sighted, I just wanted to end the reign of the Titans. I've since seen the truth though, I know that there is no end to it just by disrupting the ascension process. I need to recreate the world, and the after life.

"I'll be waiting a while" She said, "My goals require it, and it is worth it. Tomorrow, one of my followers will drop of a package at the hotel front desk for Angela. She must know we are there, but she must be unsuspecting. When she travels to the next city, we will kill our seventh. With any luck, I have chosen will have retrieved the parcel I sent them to get."

"With any luck." Mew said.

**AN: **You must question if this is an appropriate story for Angela to tell her grand-daugter.


	52. Out Of Goldenrod

**AN: **Well, this would have been up yesterday, but wasn't because FF is run by simians. So, it's up today instead. I most likely wont be able to update next week due to my end of symester work load, but if I can I will.

**LII: Out Of Goldenrod**

"Oh my God." Michael moaned. I just smirked.

"Yeah, I have that effect on people." The bed sheets were loosely pulled around my body and draped over Michael's. His left arm was under my head, and he was starring up at the ceiling, mouth agape.

"Oh my God."

"You'll be saying that for a while." I said. "Your warm you know." Michael just nodded. "We'll need to decide how we're going to do this. You know I'm horny, I know you are also, I may need you to service me in some inappropriate situations."

"Like what?"

"Being in an elevator, or in a bathroom, sometimes I might grab you and pull you behind a bush on the side walk."

"…Really?" I smirked.

* * *

The next day came after another three orgasms. Your mother will explain later. Me and Michael were the only ones who still had stuff in our hotel room, so we grabbed our stuff and prepared to check out. I was leaning against Michael as we rode the elevator down.

"I don't think I can stand up." I said with a grin. "You should very proud of yourself."

"What are we going to tell the others?"

"Hmm. You rode me bare back for so long I thought I was going to pass out."

"…Not about that." Michael said, surprising a grin. "Though we probably should keep that quiet. Advertising your sex life is usually not a good idea. No, what I meant was, we still haven't told them about you being attacked twice. We didn't tell them the first time for God knows what reason other then we didn't want them to be afraid they'd be in danger."

"More then that." I said. "I was afraid Charlotte might leave, and not pay for this trip for us."

"Always thinking of others." Michael mumbled. "Well, we need to tell them this time. If Charlotte or Desiree, or God help me, even Virgil got hurt because someone is stalking you, and you didn't tell them, would you be okay with it? I wouldn't." I shrugged.

"I dunno." The elevator doors dinged, and me and Michael walked out. Immediately, we were ushered off to the side by a police officer. Before I could ask why, I could see why.

The elevator beside us was open, and a stretcher was being pulled out. On the stretcher was a black body bag, a dead person, again where I was. I felt my legs go weak, but Michael held me up right. Their were people all around us, crowded off to the side, saying things but I didn't understand them. All I could see was somebody dead, another dead person where I was.

* * *

It was only fifteen more minutes before me and Michael could leave. The police questioned the crowd, and me and him were among the first ones questioned. I spoke for both of us, we'd been screwing all last night, never left our room, didn't know anything. They didn't question us any more and moved on.

The two of us got in the (long) line to the check out counter. Their was a lot of noise coming from the counter, arguing, yelling, I didn't care. I was shaken by what I'd seen.

"I-I don't understand, someone died." I whispered. Michael just nodded. He was shaking also.

"It's…Angela, it's got nothing to do with you. For once, it has nothing to do with you, just remember that. It's not your fault. It's just a coincidence, remember that, all a coincidence." I nodded.

"I know. It still upsets me Michael. It just feels like death is always following us, like if I turn around I'll see it behind me, waiting for me. Oh God, if anything happened to someone in our group I don't know what the hell I'd do."

"Nothing has though Angela. It'll be alright." I smiled and nodded. We didn't say anything for another thirty minutes as we stood in the non-moving line. My legs were starting to hurt when it finally did move, and we made it to the front.

Michael turned in our key, but the guy at the counter said someone had dropped a letter off for us. He walked off and quickly returned with an envelope with Angela Duncan and my room number written on it.

"Uh, thanks." I put it in my pants pocket, no point in reading it now, and we headed off.

* * *

It was bright outside, bright when we finally made it up to Anna's room in the pokemon center. Anna and the other pokemon were sitting around talking about irrelevant stuff, Charlotte and Desiree sitting across from them watching, and Virgil standing in a corner like a fucking golem.

"Hey guys, we're back." I said, slowly walking in. Everyone looked up with various greetings, I walked over to Anna.

"Angela! They said I'm going to get out of this metal trap today." Anna said. I smiled and nodded.

"Yep, finally out. You'll look so much better without leg braces."

"I think she looks great with them." Gabriel said. He was laying with his head on Anna's stomach.

"You know pervert, this is what I think of your opinion." I picked up Gabriel by his left leg, much to his and Anna's dismay. Gabriel swung up to try and bite my wrist, but as he did I tossed him at Michael. "Michael, in coming!"

"Huh?" Michael turned just in time to see a shocked and kicking Gabriel bit him in the face. Michael screamed, tumbled into Charlotte, Desiree, and Iggy (on her head) and knocked them over. Iggy was apparently annoyed by this, and I watched as his antenna lit up and all five of them were electrocuted. Iggy shut the juice off and an unconscious Gabriel slipped off Michael's face.

"That was awesome." I said with a grin. Anna said nothing, just looked at the mass of squirming, slightly crispy, people.

"You know, stuff like that used to surprise me. Now it surprises me more when those things don't happen."

"Lady Angela, I must ask you something." Darheel walked over to me. "If Ms. Anna is released from the shackles that are binding her, shall we take our leave of this city. I must confess my duress Lady Angela, though as a human you would expect me to be comforted by buildings, I do find myself longing for the forests and trees." I paused, trying to decode what Darheel had just said.

"Couldn't you have said all of that without giving a speech?" I asked. "Yeah, we're leaving, don't worry." Darheel nodded. The Worthless Rejects on Anna's bed cheered at this, Saya included.

"Yes, no more city! Please get me to some water." Saya whined. I looked at her, eye-brow raised. "What? I may be tough as shit, but some times I need to be in water, and I haven't in three weeks! I want a river!"

"I'll get you too a river." I said with a smirk. "Relax. It's going to be a long journey too Ecruteak City. We've got too routes, and a national park. Wonder if we should stop there, what do you think Michael?"

Michael made a gargling noise, and tried to push himself back onto his feel. He failed and collapsed on Charlotte.

"I'll assume that's a yes. Well, we'll be out of here as soon as Anna is out of here." Michael finally stood up, and stumbled over to me, Gabriel draped across his shoulder.

"Uh, that's not all guys." Charlotte and Desiree had made it back into their chairs. Virgil was behind them after helping them up. "Angela has something to tell you."

"No I don't." Michael coughed. "Nothing happened last night, well me and Michael fucked, but that's not really surprising."

"I knew they had sex!" Desiree exclaimed, "My sex powers are never wrong."

"Wow, we spent all night in here watching the pokemon and you used our room to boff?" Charlotte asked. "We spent all night in here! I ate dinner out of a vending machine while you two screwed. So…was it any good?" Michael was now beet red, but still didn't say a word.

"Th-That is not the point." Michael said. "Angela you've got something else to tell them right?"

"Nope, just the sex." Michael fake coughed again. "We did it all night long and slammed the bed against the wall so hard that we left dents in the wall." Michael coughed again, and I hit him in the throat with my elbow. He fell to his knees, coughing yet again, this time for real. "Oh, I'm sorry Michael, did I hit you in the neck? Well, maybe it'll fix your cough." He stood up again.

"Alright, guys Angela was attacked by a lunatic in a yellow robe yesterday." Everyone began to say something, "The problem is, this is not the first time it happened, but the second. Both times someone in yellow jumped her, both times they did something to force her to fight them mentally. Or something, Angela can describe this a lot better then I could." Now they were all looking at me, except Virgil. I sighed.

"Alright, this is a long story. Remember how I once mentioned the Titans? When I pulled that Haunter out of Desiree's brain? Well, I've got to go all the way back to the begining to explain the Titans."

* * *

About an hour passed. A nurse had told us they'd be along to release Anna soon, but I barely noticed, I was too busy talking.

"So I was out getting a soda, when the guy in yellow attacked me. I mean, this was normal for me, but what wasn't was all these red lights, and everything going red so I couldn't see where I was. Well, I was in what I thought was a desert/torture chamber, but it wasn't, it was me and Peccavi's mind."

"Who is Peccavi?" Charlotte asked.

"They guy in yellow, try and keep up. Anyways, our minds fought with magic energy Pokemon suites of armor. We hit each other, I broke his, and then I hit his mind which broke it! Essentially, beating him rendered him brain dead or something, I don't care. Anyways, the next day Not Meowth took me into Eternity through a pool to talk to me."

"And Not Meowth is the bad one right?" Charlotte asked.

"I think Meowths are evil." Desiree said.

"Can't trust a Meowth." Saya said.

"No! Not Meowth isn't evil, that's Not Milotic, duh."

"Right, how could I forget?" Charlotte asked, "Your stellar naming skills make them each stand out."

"Whatever. Anyways, he took me to meet his leader the Supreme Titan who gave me this tattoo." I rolled up my sleeve to show how far up it went. "Anyways, he said it'll let me go into peoples heads, I told you about that before. I probably should have told you this then."

"I didn't want to know." Charlotte mumbled, "My head hurts."

"Kay, well like I told you then, the Titans gave me this, and I didn't know then what they are and I don't know now. After that, didn't really have any more run ins with the guys in yellow robes, until a few days ago when Faceless attacked me. Do NOT ask me to explain that nickname, it's a long story. He attacked me and tried to strangle me, so I broke his mind. Then Not Milotic showed up to spout lies to me, and then I woke up. So, that's everything that happened between me killing myself and right now."

Everyone was silent, though for Virgil that was normal, the rest it was odd. Even Michael had nothing to say.

"Hello! I hear there is a Grovyle ready to get her legs back!" On that sing-song note, a nurse walked into the room carrying what looked like a socket wrench. I just pointed at Anna, who was also silent and mouth agape. The nurse walked over with a fake smile and went to work.

After about five minutes the nurse had disassembled the metal riggings. Anna's legs were on the bed, but she still hadn't said anything. The nurse said a few more annoying things and left.

"So Anna" I walked up to her, "How does it feel to have your legs back?" Anna paused.

"It uh, it feels good. So, you once went to an alternate reality where Michael was a Grovyle? You owned another Grovyle aside from me!"

"Not the point Anna." Michael came up beside me.

"I assume even Anna is confused by these events?" Michael asked, "You mentioned some even I don't remember."

"Yeah, don't know why. Anyways, Anna's legs are good, so can we leave now?"

* * *

We did just that, leaving the Pokemon center, and heading out of Goldenrod. Fun fact, Goldenrod is fucking huge, being the second largest city on Earth (though it was the largest at the time). By the time the sun was setting, we were just outside of Goldenrod. As in, seven feet outside of the city limits.

"Couldn't we have walked further?" Desiree asked.

"Nope, to tired." I said, opening a soda. Michael had just walked into the gas station across from us to get them.

We had a fire going and Anna was sitting in front of it, with me behind her. I stroked the leaf on the back of her head.

"So, you feel good being back on your own two feet?" Anna nodded.

"I am, my legs feel strong again and they don't hurt. That's…good. I liked the story of your life, but people are attacking you. Angela, I wont let them."

"Anna—"

"I mean it. They don't scare me, I'll fight them if you need me to. I'll protect everyone if you need me to, I'm not scared of them. Even if it means my legs get broken again, or something worse happens, I'll protect you. Darheel and Saya would do the same, and maybe Emily would too. Tell us if someone is going after you, we'll protect you and make them afraid to come back!" I smiled.

"I know you will. Thanks Anna." We didn't say anything else, just sat in silence and watched the fire.

**AN II: **Now, time for something awesome. Since I couldn't post the link in here without the simians that run FF deleting it, go to my profile and click my home page. Admit it, that's awesome


	53. Darheel Among The Insects

**AN: **Good God it's busy here, sorry about the delay, new chapter!

**LIII: Darheel Among The Insects**

The Johto National Park lies in the middle of Route 35. Not sure why there of all places, I guess cuz it's outside of Goldenrod. The park is still there I think, I don't keep up with Johto news anymore. It's full of bug-type pokemon imported from Johto and Kanto, none of them bread there. I'm only mentioning that because it's important to this story.

"Why are we even here?" I asked, "I've got an bug-type, I don't need another."

"What makes you assume this is about you?" Charlotte asked.

"It's my journey, it's always about me!"

We were standing inside the building from which you entered the national park. Charlotte and me were doing what we usually did, arguing while everyone else stood behind us and watched.

"If I catch a significant bug-type, I can turn it into the park officials and get a Sun Stone. I can sell that for a lot of money Angela. We could always use more money."

"If you get us a Sun Stone, I'm holding onto it, I don't want you to sell a stone. I could use one, I dunno what I'll catch later!"

"I can earn us some money this way!"

"Would you like to buy a ticket into the park?" A very confused desk receptionist asked.

"Shut up!"

* * *

"You know" I said, "You want to catch a pokemon to get a Sun Stone, but those tickets cost so much, that the stone will pay for those."

"Don't remind me." Charlotte said. Quintcel was hovering beside her, waiting for a command. "Quint, we hunt now!"

"By your command Lady Charlotte." The two ran down a path, into the trees. I watched her run off.

"Does Charlotte know that you only get a Sun Stone by catching a bug-type in an insect catching contest?"

"Of course"

"Does she know the contest is tomorrow?"

"Probably not." Michael said. Desiree picked up her canvas and her Iggy.

"There is a beautiful fountain in the middle of the park, I'm thinking of capturing Iggy on the water." The two of them walked off into the trees.

"So, what are we doing today?" Saya asked. "I'd like to fight a Pincer and breaker it's pinchers off with ice beams of pain."

"You guys can go explore the park." I said, "Non-bug types are not supposed to be captured and Darheel can't be due already having been captured." I turned to Michael, "The two of us should go off alone…I need to be serviced." Michael grinned.

"I'll come with you." Anna said, "I want to be with you, and I just can't be alone right now." I froze upon hearing those words.

"…Excellent." Me and Michael began to wonder down a path, Anna riding on my back.

"Angela, why is Anna coming with us?" Michael asked.

"It's a long, blue balled story Michael. Trust me." That left the Worthless Rejects, Saya, and Darheel. Pecha looked around this group.

"Pecha who is I has been of the thinking. I need to raise my strength, so I am off to train! Those who wish, come with me!"

"Training? Ass kicking? I am there!" Saya said.

"I don't wanna train." Emily said, "I did too much of that before."

"Me too." Rush said.

"Rush will come with Pecha!" Pecha proclaimed. He shrugged.

"Alright." The three of them ran off into the trees.

"You know" Streak said, "I some times suspect that like their may be something wrong with that Pikachu." A master of observation that Streak. Trish was fluttering beside him, and just shook her head.

"Sometimes I think something is wrong with you." Trish mumbled. She flew over to Darheel, who wasn't looking at her. "You know, you and I haven't gotten much time to talk to each other Darheel, not for a while."

"I know Madame Trish." Darheel mumbled, looking into the trees. Emily and Streaked walked up beside him.

"Something wrong?" Emily asked. Darheel nodded, not turning away from the forest in front of him.

"I could hear…a voice, someone I once knew. I-I must investigate the source of this voice. Sir Streak, you will accompany me, I will not risk the safety of females."

"We're not just females!" Trish snapped, "I can do anything anyone with a penis can do, and I'll pull your eye out if you disagree!" Darheel didn't respond, instead entering the trees.

"If you wish to follow, then follow." He said. With that, Darheel leapt into the trees, followed by the others.

"I-I don't know if I can keep up!" Emily said, running behind Streak. Streak stopped, and bent over.

"On my back little awesome Shinx" Emily climbed on, and the two took off again. They emerged from the forest, and crossed into the tall grass.

Fun fact, for some stupid reason the National Park of Johto is in the shape of a pokeball with the bottom half made up of a mini forest, and the top is like a mini grass land. Less trees, more tall grass, cat tails, and things I'm allergic too.

Their were bug-types every where, but Darheel had focused in on one. A Scizor, the only one in the park probably, stood in front of a single tree. It was snapping off branches with it's claws.

The Scizor had one eye, with the other looking welded shut. It's wings were bent and its red steel skin was scorched. The left spike on his head was missing. The Scizor turned, to see Darheel skid to a stop.

"Outcast." He said.

"Hello Elim." Darheel said. Trish, Streak, and Emily all pulled in beside Darheel. Trish looked at the two.

"You know this guy?" She asked. Elim the Scizor laughed.

"Outcasts know nothing." Darheel bristled at this mention.

"What does outcast mean?" Emily asked. Elim laughed.

"These pokemon who associate with you do not know of your status Outcast?" Elim said, while managing to suppress a giggle. "You did not tell them? Well I can not say I am surprised Outcast, if I were like you I wouldn't tell anyone either."

"What are you doing here Elim?" Darheel asked, "I can not imagine you willingly leaving our swarm. Unless you were captured." Elim bristled (about as well as a steel-type could) at this. He growled something, and laughed.

"Yes, despite my best efforts I was captured by a hum-mon" He said, mispronouncing the word as he spoke, "This is irrelevant though as I refuse to offer my services to a lesser species such as them. I will be leaving this place as soon as I can."

"Elim, in my time of knowing you" Darheel said, "I found you to be annoying, arrogant, and worthless. You spent more time eating berries then training, and had I known you when you were a Scyther, I'd wonder how you were able to evolve. If you were caught, it was due to your own incompetence. You should feel grateful to serve a human, they might give some value to your life." Elim ignored most of this.

"Why do you call Darheel Outcast?" Trish asked. "He has a name you know."

"Outcasts are to only be referred to by their position within Scizor society." Elim stated. Darheel now had gone quiet. "When a Scyther or Scizor meet another when in the world, they are to ask what the others place is. Outcasts have no place, no name, they are not even considered to have a gender. They aren't one of us, they are empty vessels, who good Scyther and Scizor do not associate with."

"That's both terrible and stupid." Trish said, "Why would they not have a gender? It makes no sense!"

"Why are Scizor so mean?" Emily asked. Elim turned his back to them.

"I do not need to speak to you. If you are associated with the Outcast, then you are not worth my time. I am above you." Elim then exited their presence.

"That guy is a dick head." Streak said. "The ocean will never wash him clean." Darheel just watched him.

"He is correct, I have been delegated to the position of Outcast." Darheel said. "It is not something that I speak about though."

"Why not tell us?" Trish asked.

"It is not your concern." Darheel replied, "It is my own personal shame. It is why I do not speak of my past. The way of Scyther and Scizor is simple, their standing within their swarm, or where they stood, determines their worth as living creatures. Mine…I have no worth among others of my own species."

"You have worth with us." Emily said. Darheel looked down and smiled.

"I know Ms. Emily. I have worked hard to show my worth among others not of my own species. It does hurt though to a certain degree, knowing among my swarm I have no name, no identity. My own mother is still with them, she would no longer be able to speak my name, to her I am Outcast. You understand how I feel I am sure." Trish thought about it.

"My mother is a psychopath who ruled our flock through fear and death. I left willingly. Not something I ever speak about." Trish said. "So, no I do not know how you feel, I'd be ecstatic to be a fucking Outcast. It would rock!"

"Hey, little Emily chick?" Streak asked, "I don't want to rock the boat, but my back is starting to crack, and if you don't get off I might die. If you want to keep riding the Streak, that's awesome, but don't be surprised if I lapse into a coma."

"Okay!" Emily chirped. She then curled up into a ball and went to sleep on Streak. Streak smiled, then collapsed on the ground. Darheel and Trish didn't notice.

"Darheel, why are you an outcast?" Trish asked.

"I'm not an outcast, I am Outcast, it is my name to others." Darheel said. "As for why, I will first state this Madame Trish, I am not responsible for my title. In fact, everything I am blamed for only occurred because when a Scyther or Scizor commits a crime against the swarm, their entire blood line must be purged."

"Okay, I believe you." Darheel sat down.

"My family consisted of three members Madame Trish, my father, my mother, and myself. My mother was rendered unable to have another egg after mine for reasons I do not understand, and as such I had no siblings. I was three years old when I left my swarm, I'm five years now.

"My father was a negotiator for our swarm, he negotiated peace with other pokemon, and he kept them from stealing our food most of the time. Their were always exceptions of course, when some species just did not like our swarm.

"During my third year, in our forest their was a severe draught, and we ran out of food despite conservation. We had to relocate to another area, and then we ran into a problem. A group of displaced Magmar and Magby had taken over a dry region for reasons I do not understand. The dry region they controlled separated our forest from another with plenty of food, and the Magmar did not like Scizor or Scyther. No, that's not quiet exact, they loathed us and wanted to see us wiped off the map, burn down our forest, and expand their territory.

"My father was sent to negotiate with the Magmar, trading our old territory to them in exchange for safe passage. If anyone could get us safe passage, it would have been my father, and he seemed to succeed. The Magmar agreed to let us pass safely, sparing the lives of all three hundred of us."

"So what went wrong?" Trish asked. Darheel paused.

"I must admit I do not understand how it happened, or what my father sought to gain. We moved through the dry lands, Scizor flanking our group, when the Magmar attacked us." Darheel's eyes water for a second, then dried. "Our Scizor fought valiantly, to the death, while I and my mother, along with the majority of our swarm ran. We managed to escape after four days of running from attacks, but one hundred and twelve of us, my father included, were killed.

"The leaders of our swarm searched for a motive, deciding that my father most likely exchanged safe passage for only him, my mother, and myself, with the Magmar choose not to honor their end of the deal. As such, my father had been punished for his transgressions, but his blood line still existed inside of the swarm, in me."

"Darheel I—"

"Please allow for me to finish Madame Trish, and then you may speak your words." Trish nodded and Darheel finished. "I had two choices, execution or to become an outcast. I selected the latter, and as such I became Outcast, banished and to walk the earth without a swarm until I die. By the time Lady Angela captured me, it had been two years since I left, and I'd still not quit thinking about it."

"So how does Elim come into this?" Trish asked.

"Elim was one of the few Scizor to survive the attack, though why he was one of the ones guarding the swarm I will never grasp. He was an awful fighter without honor, greedy, cowardly, and generally worthless. During the fight he ran away to save his own life, but they never punished him. He was one of the first to join in the hunt to eliminate my fathers blood line, and personally escorted me away from our swarm."

"He's a creep then." Trish said.

"I am not fond of him." Darheel said, "If I were a Scizor and not Outcast, I would challenge him to combat for the express purpose of ending his life, with more honor and dignity then he would show me. I heard his voice, I had to see if he was now Outcast, and though I am ashamed to admit it, I wanted to know just to partake of his misery. To know that he who made me so unhappy could now feel the same sorrow, it would be good." Trish nodded.

"Can I ask you one question?"

"You may always Madame Trish."

"Do you think your father did it?" Darheel looked at Trish, then the grass, then at the other two sleeping, then at the sky.

"Lady Angela will soon come looking for us. We really must be returning."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I know."


	54. Nothing In The Dark

**AN: **This chapter is part of my ongoing quest to do a different sort of chapter plot, to further diferintiate this from ALNM. I hope it's a success.

**LIV: Nothing In The Dark**

"You could have told me the bug-catching contest was today." Charlotte said bitterly. I shrugged.

"You never asked."

It was the next day, and we were walking through the woods. The path we were on overlooked a rather steep ravine to the left, and since it rained last night, the ground was wet and slick. Every step we took made our feet sink into the mud, and I was carrying Anna, Emily, and Saya, with Darheel in his ball, so I got to walk slowly in this muck. Despite me walking slowly, Desiree and Iggy were at the back of our party. Desiree was flipping a brush between her fingers as she walked behind us.

"Something wrong?" Iggy asked. Desiree sighed and shrugged.

"Something is, yeah. I dunno what, just since Anna was in the pokecenter I've been off. I figured adding some blue to my hair might make me feel better" She twirled the locks of blue hair above her left eye, "But no one noticed. I don't really feel better." The two of them began to drift towards the left.

"Is their anything I can do Desiree?" Iggy said. Desiree smiled.

"I'm not sure, maybe" Desiree walked way to close to the edge. Now as I've mentioned before, Desiree enjoys wearing odd, bright clothing. She likes a lot of shiny jewelry, and she likes shoes with heels. Now, do you know what happens when you take heels, and try to walk in the mud, especially on a small cliff? "Oh shit!"

Desiree's right foot sunk deep into the mud when she tried to take a step, causing her to stumble. Specifically, causing her and Iggy to stumble and roll down the hill. Desiree grabbed Iggy as they fell and pulled him against her breast, as the two hit every plant and rock on the way down.

"Desiree!" Virgil was already running towards her when she fell, but she was gone. We all heard a loud thump as she hit the ground.

"Owe." Desiree sat up, shaking her head rapidly, shaking dirt and twigs off. "You okay Iggy?"

"I'm fine Desiree." Iggy said. "I was afraid you'd be hurt, I knew I'd be okay."

"Good" Desiree looked up the hill. "We're fine! Just a bit dirty" Desiree looked down at the neon green stockings she was wearing, "And my clothing is torn."

"You're bleeding Desiree" Iggy said, "I can smell it." Desiree felt along the side of her head, and felt a small bit of blood.

"And I am bleeding. Wow that feels strong." Desiree said.

"We'll try and find a way down!" Virgil yelled, "Do not go anywhere."

"Can do." Desiree mumbled. Her easel thankfully was being carried by Virgil, so it hadn't been destroyed by the fall. Everything else, her skirt, stockings, shirt, torn. Two of her rings were missing, both her heels broke off, and her makeup was smeared with dirt.

"Alright, now where are we Iggy?" They'd landed in a small dirt clearing at the foot of the hill. All around Desiree were trees, bushes, rocks, mud and a thick underbrush. Desiree's hands moved along the floor of the forest, while Iggy's antenna twitched.

"Des, move your left hand back" Iggy said, "You touched something that's not a rock, it made a different noise."

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." Desiree moved across the ground, until she hit something small and metal. Using her long nails, Desiree pried out a dirty, washed out looking pokeball. As she lifted it up to her face, it enlarged.

"How long has this been here?" The white paint of the ball had been completely scratched off, and the red almost also.

"It's a pokeball!" Iggy said, touching it with his antenna. "Open it!"

"Do you think something's in it?"

"I dunno, just—" Desiree pressed the button on the center, and was instantly blinded by a white light. The light and energy coming from it was so strong that Desiree almost dropped the ball.

"Kira, you're free!" Desiree and Iggy turned at the sound of a raspy voice exclaiming that. It came from behind a bush a few feet away.

"H-hello?" Desiree called.

"Hello. Who're you?"

"Desiree, I just fell down the hill." Desiree put Iggy on her head, and the two crawled over to the voice. They crawled through a few bushes, and came up too a teenage boy. The boy was coated in dirt and mud, and was in a red and white long sleeved shirt, and black shorts. Or they were once, now they were largely brown and torn. The boy had dried blood on the side of his face, and his left leg was swollen and had a large lump in the middle of it.

On his lap was a female Espeon, making happy noises being back with his master. Presumably this was Kira, and she was the one in the dilapidated pokeball.

"Oh my God, kid are you okay?" Desiree crawled over to the boy, who was nodding rapidly.

"Y-Yeah I would be now." The boy said, "My name is Ethan Cooper, and I think my leg is broken."

"It appears to be." Desiree said. Iggy had gone silent, though his antenna were lighting up and wiggling. "I-I dunno what to do, don't worry though, my friends are coming to get me, they'll get both of us." Ethan smiled, and started to tear up.

"I uh thanks. I was afraid I was going to die here, and if I didn't get to see Kira again then I don't know what I would have done."

"Well, you're going to be okay." Desiree said reassuringly, stroking his non-broken leg.

"Desiree, something is weird here." Iggy whispered, but she ignored him.

"So, Kira is this beautiful thing?" Desiree asked, petting the Espeon behind the ears. Ethan nodded.

"This is Kira, my special friend and only pokemon." He said. "We've been together since I was two, my parents gave me Kira to be a pet. She evolved one day, before I decided to become a trainer."

"You're a trainer?" Desiree asked, "For how long?"

"About, oh, two days. Which incidentally was how long I'd been down here. Seriously, I left Goldenrod and almost immediately ended up injured." He laughed, "I was going to be one hell of a trainer, wasn't I? I ended up getting injured on my first day!"

"You might still be, you're not doing that bad. I'm a traveling painter" Desiree said, "And I've thus far finished no painting, gotten sidetracked repeatedly, and burned a hotel down. I wish I painted that, the fire was so vibrant, orange, blue, yellow, colors I didn't even know fire could be!"

"Wow wow" Ethan paused, "Uh I got nothing. I've never set a hotel on fire. All I've got is Kira."

"I've got Iggy." Desiree said, lifting him up. "Before you ask, yes he is blind, he was when I got him and probably always will be." She stroked his head, "I don't care. Iggy is my muse."

"Pokemon can be like that." Ethan said. "Kira was my little psychic ball of joy. When your parents scream, or in my case, my mother screams at you for nothing, they can make you feel better. Kira was always there, she listened to me."

"Even if she can't speak." Desiree said.

"Des? Something is really weird." Iggy said. Kira's red Jew glowed on and off. Iggy fell asleep, unable to say anymore.

"Iggy was the only one who listened to me in boarding school." Desiree said. "That's something I've not told my traveling companions, the ones coming to get me. I was once in a boarding school, and I haaaated it. Everything should be done the way they said it should, according to the rules. It was a horrible place where creativity went to die. The only reason I went there was because both my sisters went there."

"You have sisters?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, two of them. My oldest one works for some government agency doing security checks or something, every time she talks to me I just hear 'blah blah blah'."

"What about your other sister?" Ethan asked.

"Oh her. She's in jail for being part of an anarchist cell called S.U.N.D.A.Y. that tried to blow up the judges." Desiree said, "I should really go see her. Anyways, she'll be free in just thirty five years."

"Wow. I got nothing."

"Nor do I." Desiree cocked her head. "Your clothes are old, I just noticed they look really old."

"They are old." Ethan said, "I got them from a used clothes store, I got Kira's pokeball used, I found these shoes on the street. As you might have guessed, I was poor."

"I'm sorry for you." Ethan shrugged.

"It's okay. You get used to being poor. That's one of the reasons I decided to become a trainer, I could earn some money and maybe do something else, I dunno. I'd have liked to one day buy new shoes, and a good ball for Kira. I'd have liked just to buy some balls, I only had the one."

"Yeah, you need more." Desiree said. "I wonder what it would be like to get another pokemon. I've considered asking Charlotte or Angela, they're my friends, to catch me something. Maybe an Espeon like you're Kira. I like the purple."

"Purple is a wonderful color." Ethan said. "It would match with blue. I dunno what I wanted for my second pokemon, maybe a flying type."

"Did you always want to be a trainer?"

"Yep. I love pokemon" Ethan said, "I never wanted to be in school, just out in the world with them. My mother refused to let me do it though, every time I asked she refused to let me go on my journey. She kept whining that she'd never see me, or that I'd get hurt and die on my journey. Going out on a dangerous trail after it rained probably wasn't my brightest idea."

"Probably wasn't mine either." Desiree said with a small laugh. "Well, being injured is the spice of life. It's still funny that you're going to spend the first weeks of your trainer life in a hospital." Ethan didn't say anything.

"Desiree, what is your dream in life?" Ethan asked. "Mine was to make it and become the champion of Johto. That would've been incredible. I'd never have been forgotten, that's what I wanted. I'd live on forever through everyone else. So what about you Desiree?" She paused. Kira's Jew flashed.

"My…my dream is to be the-a a painter." Desiree began to breathe heavier. "Not just a painter though, being a painter who is easily forgotten? Who isn't studied? Who doesn't create? I want more then that.

"I see the world as color and light, that's almost all I see and it's all I put on canvas. I want more then that, I want to be more then color and light. I want to paint something real! I want people to look at my canvas and say that is life!"

"I never expected that much reaction." Ethan said, earning a sheepish grin from Desiree. Kira studied the girl and her Chinchou. Her Jew flashed again.

"I never expected to give it." Desiree said, "I kind of felt compelled. I guess it's cuz I can't talk to this with the others in my group. I travel with them, and they are nice, but they don't get me. I'm comedy for them, or someone to carry stuffs, or to lighten the mood. They don't know anything about me, they wouldn't care."

"I understand that." Ethan said, "I always felt like no one understood me either, humans were too complicated. That's the other reason I wanted to be a trainer, to get away from people completely. You never know though, your friends might not be as bad as you think. They probably do care."  
"Virgil does." Desiree said, "He wants to have sex with me though, even though I told him I'm asexual, I don't think he got it." She shrugged. "That's another detail of my life I'm not advertising. I learned a long time ago, people don't care if you follow any of the conventional ways things are supposed to be done. Follow none of them, then they freak out."

"You might be right Desiree." Ethan replied.

"Yep." Desiree finally noticed Iggy was asleep on her lap, and smiled. "Alright Iggy, I know you're bored, but it's time to wake up." She tapped him on the head and Iggy jerked to life. Kira's Jew began to glow, but to late.

"He doesn't have an electromagnetic field!" Iggy yelled (my words, not his). Kira's Jew quit glowing, and she sighed.

"What?" Desiree asked.

"I-Humans have like electricity I feel, a charge! Pokemon have it too, I can feel it with my antenna. I hear this Ethan guy talking, but I don't feel him there. I feel his Espeon, but I don't feel him! He's not there!" Desiree looked down at him, then Ethan.

"He's right you know." Ethan said. "Being dead does that to you." Desiree's jaw dropped.

"You're dead?" Ethan nodded with a smile. By now Kira's Jew was glowing non-stop. She began to talk with Ethan, the two speaking in unison.

"Everything I've said to you thus far has been true. I was a trainer for one week, I was poor, I came from a broken home, and I fell down this hill in a rain storm." They said. "All of that was true, just when it happened wasn't. You assumed it was after this rain storm. In fact, it was after one eight years ago.

"It was a particularly bad storm, I'd actually been advised not to come this way for a few days. They said the paths would be washed out, it would be slick, dangerous to walk. I knew better though" They said. "Me and Kira fell down the path after my foot slipped, landed where you see us right now. My leg was broken, and no one was coming to help us.

"Kira stayed with me as I called out for help. I called for three days, after that I couldn't call out anymore. I lasted another two, Kira helping me the entire time. I knew that I wasn't making it out of there."

Desiree was crying now, not speaking though. Finally she thought of something to say.

"How-how-how are y-you here?"

"I told you I wanted to live forever." Ethan and Kira said. "I'd become a champion and I'd live on that way. That wasn't going to happen though, so Kira helped me.

"She recorded my mind, my memories, my personality, inside of her due to her psychic powers. I recaptured Kira inside her pokeball, she could live forever inside of there, and rolled it away from me. Whoever eventually came across it she would give my memories, she would give them it all."

"Your still dead though." Desiree said, not knowing what she meant anymore. Ethan nodded.

"I'll live forever now though, thanks to you Ms. Desiree." They said. "You're not just color and light."

"…Thanks Ethan."

"You'll live an incredible life." Ethan and only Ethan said. "I had to speak to you, I had to know what kind of person you were. You're extraordinary Desiree, and your life will be too. I hope it's wonderful." With that Ethan began to fade away, Kira still sitting there. Soon Ethan was gone completely. Before Desiree could ask about it, Kira's Jew glowed bright, almost blinding Desiree.

"I…see…" Desiree whispered, as Ethan's memories rushed into her. She could see his life, all of it, experience it along with her. When it ended Desiree fell onto her back.

"Desiree!"

"I'm fine Iggy." She pushed herself back up. Kira stood there, staring at the two. "So, you waited eight years? Just to find someone to take your trainer's memories?" Kira nodded. "That is some dedication. I don't know…"

Desiree's eyes drifted to where Ethan had been. A few scraps of clothes, shoes, and such stood out. Sticking out of the mud was an outline, the outline of a skeleton. Ethan's skeleton.

"Desiree? Where are you?" I called out. Desiree turned around, confused.

"I'm here! I'm here!" She turned back to Ethan's body. "I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Charlotte called the National Park, who put in a call to Johto. They would send people out to get Ethan's body in a couple of hours. He'd get a proper burial and his mother would finally know what happened to her son. Desiree waited off away from us, sitting on a rock. She had Iggy on her lap, Kira's ball in her hand. Desiree released Kira.

"I'm letting you go." Desiree said, "I-I can't guess what it's like being stuck in a ball for so long, but I just hope you get over it." Kira looked up.

"Eon espy espeon es." Desiree nodded.

"Sounds wonderful." Kira sighed, and said the same thing to Iggy.

"She says she wants to go with you." Iggy said. Desiree cocked her eyebrow.

"Why? She doesn't know me."

_I don't need to know you._ Desiree almost stumbled off her rock as the voice entered her head. _I just know you were nice enough to wait with my master and to try and help him despite not knowing him._

"You can speak in my brain?" Kira (kind of) smirked.

_Not often, but some times. So what do you say, I come with you, you get my lovely purple coat, I get to be around people again._ Desiree smiled.

"Deal, but we're getting you a better ball."

_Thanks._

"No problem" Desiree looked back at the others. "Good-bye Ethan, I wish I knew you alive."

**AN: **I put a clue to the ending in the chapter, if you know what it is, tell me in the review.


	55. The Wraith

**AN: **Only updating once this week, due to preperations for finals. Also only updating once next week due to it being finals week. After that I'll do better.

**LV: The Wraith**

Alexander and Phoebe's hair had gone white. Not only had it gone white, but clumps were starting to fall out. Their eyebrows had fallen off a week ago. Their teeth would fall out in a couple of weeks, and the two would be dead. Then their would be a new two in their place.

"You two need to find stronger hosts." Kelsey said to them, "These two haven't lasted a year."

"The two had birth defects we didn't know about." The twins said in unison, their Absol and Alakazam standing behind them, "Our control accidentally execrated it. We will be careful next time to watch out for that."

"I'd hope so. If you two didn't have hosts, you'd have to retire." Kelsey said, "Pokemon can't run the 7th Order. I'd just have to take over for you, something I'd be much more skilled in no doubt, but I wont comment."

"Hey whore? Will you shut the fuck up." Travis snarled.

The four of them were the only members of the 7th Order at the main headquarters, the other three had traveled to the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City, with a grunt transmitting live video footage from a head set. They sat on four chairs behind a conference table, their pokemon under them.

Currently, the group in Ecruteak was approaching the Burned Tower. The tower was in the woods on a path outside of the main city.

"I-Magius wan-wanto go." Moslow whimpered as the group approached the tower. "The Mismagius dead are here. Mismag see them giuall. Call oius forag meee." Moslow was trembling with each step he took, to the point that two grunts had to prop him up. Unlike everyone else in the group, Moslow was the only one who could see the damn bottle the Wraith was in, so he was the only one who had to be there.

"I'm excited about all this." Archer said with a smile, licking his fingertips. His Seviper Krako was curled around his waist, and neck, making it look like Archer had two heads. "Tell me Moslow, are any of the ungrateful dead my old acquaintances? I'd love to discover just what I could do to a ghost if I strapped one to my table. Do you think I could split it open? Can you kill something dead a second time? Would that bring them back to life? Oh God, just thinking about it is erotic."

"Shut up Archer." Grace snapped, "I want out of here too, this tower is creepy. Perrin is watching for us, I don't want him to be in trouble for any longer then he has to be." Her Honchkrow Perrin was circling above them, making sure no one entered. If someone tried to, Perrin was to attack them and knock them unconscious. If that failed, Perrin was to kill them.

With them were ten other grunts, a few armed with weapons, one with a pair of metal tongs, one with a stone box and one with a stone lid. That's what would contain the bottle since touching it would cause whoever did to age rapidly and die within a minute.

They walked up the stone steps, with the once large tower looming over them. Once large being key. The upper portion of the tower had burned, all of it, with only the shell of the first two stories still remaining.

"Weious should not mismagius the demag here." Moslow babbled. As his emotions heightened, the influence of the Mismagius in his brain increased. Archer yawned.

"It's so dusty in here. Their is soot, I hate soot. This is why I dissolve bodies in acid, they don't leave ash or soot, or anything else nasty."

Their feet kicked up small clouds of dust and ash as they walked, coating the robs of the drones and the jumpsuits of the 7th Order members. Despite the daylight, the burned temple had a gloomy air too it. Actually, the daylight made the entire tower much creepier, since it just further reminded them that this place was empty. Given that their were people in the tower when it burned, and that it was a popular suicide destination (yes really), that made it all the worse.

The tower had three lower floors, which were accessed by single stone staircases. The group started to crawl under a collapsed pillar headed to the entrance to the first.

"So, why are these towers here?" Grace asked. "I don't see the point."

"I think Ho-Oh lived here once." Archer replied, "I dunno, I find history to be just such a bore. Then again, I'm going to be part of it, I'm going to shape things to come. Oh that is erotic."

"Did Ho-Oh burn down the tower?" Kelsey asked from the main headquarters. "How do you suppose it burned?" Travis, currently sharpening a couple of nails on the conference table, shrugged.

"What does it matter?" He loaded the nails into a specially designed miniature nail gun. The nails would not pierce flesh, but they would pierce rubber and plastic.

"I find fire to be beautiful." Kelsey said with a grin, stroking her Ninetales who lay between her legs, under her chair. "So many people call fire destructive, but it isn't. It's power, in raw form, power that overrides the world and wipes it clean. That adds to the beauty though, not just the color. Oh the color, red, orange, lush blues does anything add so much color?"

The group at the burnt tower descended the first staircase. Their was less debris down here, less soot, and less burnt stuff. Moslow was beginning to hyperventilate, and he grabbed Grace's arm. A loud "CROW!" could be heard in the air.

"Perrin does not like you touching me." Grace said, "Nor do I, now let go of me before I separate your arm from your body."

"The Goddess speaking through that fool Grek said that we would be protected" Archer said, "From the views of others like her. As much as the idea of possessing a wraith appeals to me" They reached the second staircase and headed down, "The idea of dying rather frightens me."

"Wagius mismagius gius." Moslow stammered. His mind was almost breaking down from fear, but he had to keep going. The made it to the second floor, this one almost entirely free of debris. The third on the other had was covered in wood and rocks, since when part of the tower collapsed most of it landed there.

As they reached the bottom floor, the group got a view of the tower. Their was still light, though less thirty feet in to the ground. They could now see outlines of large pieces of rock and wood. Against the far wall were three platforms, with a tall one on top. Their appeared to be nothing there, but Moslow began pointing.

"Gius g-here t-t-there." Moslow stammered. They proceeded, with them noticing eyes starring at them in the dark.

"There are pokemon watching us." Grace said, "I suspect they do not want us to approach the Wraith."

"We wont let them touch you" One of the grunts said. Archer giggled.

"Your protection is not needed." They approached the platforms, when they heard a noise. "Yay, I get to show you why!"

A Wheezing came flying at them, trying to tackle them, to stop them from getting near the platform.

"Krako, crunch." The Wheezing began to spew toxins, but got little out. Krako shot out faster then the blink of an eye, and bit onto the smallest part of the Wheezing's body. Archer grinned. "Into pulp."

Krako bit the small head, and crushed it in to goo. Blood shot out as the Wheezing hit the ground, dying quickly. No more pokemon followed.

They walked up the stone steps to the tall platform, noticing the problem right away. Their was a layer of dust on it, with a perfect center in the middle devoid of dust. One of the grunts came over with the metal tongs.

"The bottle will cause the metal to age rapidly," Grace said, "Stone is unaffected. This bottle is more important then your life, remember this, if it touches you then use your hands because it is already to late." The other grunts placed the square stone container, while the one holding the tongs began to sweat. "Moslow, help him." Moslow pointed down to about the center, with his hand a foot above it.

The grunt moved foreword, and placed the tongs where he guessed the bottle would be. Instantly he felt something, not solid, but pulsating, and as he lifted it up, heavy. He also watched as flecks of orange rust appeared on the tongs, spreading quickly like a virus.

"Oh Goddess please don't…" He maneuvered the pulsating tongs over the stone container, only to watch them snap in two from years of rust. They made a small noise as they hit the ground, with the bottle making no noise. The grunt looked in the container.

"Here's a question." The grunt began, "If the bottle is invisible, and it doesn't make a noise, how do we know it's there?"

"Huh, good point." Archer said. He grabbed the grunt and slammed his face into the stone container. The grunt began to shake and squirm, as his body aged rapidly, eventually dying and collapsing into nothing, with only his robe left. "I guess the bottle is in there."

A different grunt, this one sweating nervously, sealed the stone container. He lifted it up, and the party existed the tower.

* * *

Grek had taken up drinking in his free time, mostly because when he wasn't drinking, he was thinking. Specifically, he was thinking about when this began, how on fire he was to get the Ten Emotions. To bring about the day of the Goddess for all the world, for her to save the world.

Then the first sacrifice occurred, but Grek was able to convince himself it was good. Then the second, and Grek convinced himself he was okay with it. By the third sacrifice, the propaganda and chants Grek had used before were no longer effective. Now that they were taking sacrifices, the best way to not feel guilty was to not think. The best way to do that was to get plastered.

Unfortunately it was time for a meeting with the 7th Order, so Grek was hungover. The sunlight streaming through his office windows felt like it was melting his eyeballs, and his head was about to explode. The noise of Alexander dropping a heavy stone container on his desk didn't help things.

"For the love of all things holy must you make so much noise?" Grek stammered. The twins pulled up chairs, their Absol and Alakazam standing behind them. "Is this the bottle?"

"It's in there." They said, "Bottle is an incorrect term, it's a bottle shaped mass of tangible time energy that can contain a Wraith."

"Time bottle, got it." Grek lifted the heavy lid, gently setting it on the top of his desk. He dropped a paperclip in the container, and watched it essentially dissolve in seconds. "Marvelous. It's" He looked up and finally got a good look at Alexander and Phoebe. "What the hell is wrong with you two? Your hair!"

"It's nothing" The two said in unison, even as hairs fell out. Grek just shook his head.

"I still don't know why the Goddess wanted you two." He said. "Alright, now explain how we're going to do this."

"You seem unwilling." The twins said.

"I am" Grek snapped, "The Goddess is asking us to kidnap an innocent person, and force that-that whatever it is in to them. For what? Why are we doing this?"

"To bring one of the servants of the Goddess in to this world." The twins said.

"Then why are we taking ten sacrifices?" Grek asked.

"To bring about the global equalization between humans and pokemon by the Goddess." The twins said.

"Then why are we planning on taking Tagger's heir, that Duncan girl?"

"To give the Goddess the power to overthrow the usurpers to her kingdom." The twins said. Grek sighed.

"That's what doesn't make sense about this. When the Goddess first contacted me, she told me about the Duncan girl." Grek said, "That's all I knew about at first was the girl. Then the ten sacrifices, she dropped that bomb on me in a dream where she spoke to me. The Wraith, a task for which she tells me to create the 7th Order.

"Except, now that I've got the Wraith, and I've been told to continue all of you to do whatever you want to do! I have no more control. You run the 7th Order doing God knows that, I don't know what it is you do. You wont tell me!"

"You don't need to know." The twins said. "What we are doing is advancing the causes of the Goddess."

"I feel sick." Grek said, "All the time now I feel sick, like I'm always about to throw up. I started feeling that way when you two showed up."

"Your feelings are irrelevant." The two said.

"Clearly. I can't stop feeling sick, and all I keep thinking is this will interfere with Her plans." The twins sighed.

"Grek, please stop your incessant whining." The two said. "It is rather annoying."

"Annoying? I'm the leader of the Tabernacle" Grek snapped, "You do not give me orders." Again the two sighed.

"Grek, were it not for the Goddess speaking through you, we would have deposed you a long time ago." They said. Grek paused as he considered this information.

"I founded the 7th Order under orders from the Goddess." Grek said, "If it were not for me, you would not exist!"

"Do you expect us to be grateful?" They asked. "The Goddess would have found us another way, without you. You're a figure head Grek, your job is to approve of our actions and to make speeches on television.

"Our actions may make you sick, but guess what, you're a part of them. You're every bit as guilty as we are, and like us you did it by your own free will. We're taking four more lives, and kidnapping the vessel of the Wraith. Until we do, I suggest that you come to terms with this, as it is happening. Live with it." The two stood up, Alexander taking the Wraith. "We will hold on to this until we need to. Farewell Grek."

Grek watched them leave, before he turned to his mini-fridge behind his desk and pulled out a bottle. As he fixed himself a drink, for the first time Grek realized just how trapped he was.


	56. The Feeling of Emotions

**AN: **Gather 'round children, it's story time! Once upon a time, an over worked and frustrated writer had the misfortune of being born to parents who destroyed the keyboard on his laptop. He was forced to send it to be fixed for two weeks, missing it's delivery the first day it was supposed to be returned to him. The writer rejoiced when his laptop returned, only to discover that the fan had been damaged when the keyboard was being fixed. This act nearly delivered a crippling blow to the writer's sanity, and he was forced to send his laptop back again, while several of his less the patient fans messaged him constantly about how he needed to update. Despite the writer swearing several times that he would finish this story, he was accused of giving it up, to the point he considered it. He has returned with the next chapter, and may God have mercy on his soul.

**LVI: The Feel of Emotions**

It was three days after Desiree got Kira, and we were camping out. Me, Michael, Charlotte, Desiree, and Virgil were in front of a pile of sticks Michael was about to light. Bizarrely, he was squeezing gel out of a tube.

"You're going to use gel to start our fire?" I asked.

"New product I found." Michael said, "Flame gel, creates a controlled fire, only burns on the gel." He lit a match and pressed it against the squirt of gel.

Instantly the one little patch of gel lit up, the flame not moving beyond that. Michael's face lit up, but his smile quickly dropped.

"You know, I think I just realized the problem of a control fire when trying to start a camp fire."

"Wow!" I grabbed the gel tube, "How does this stuff work?"

"Don't care." Michael said, setting the rest of the stick on fire with matches. I pocketed it.

"Should we trust you with anything flammable?" Charlotte asked. She was laying on the grass to the right of me, her hat pulled over her eyes.

"I'm very trust worthy." I snapped, putting a squirt on the bottom of my shoe.

"I've got twenty that say's she sets herself on fire within a month." Charlotte said to Desiree. Desiree didn't notice, she was to busy watching Kira and the others behind us.

Kira had spent the last three days in Desiree's arms, trembling and not speaking as far as I could tell. She had slept on top of Desiree. Now, she wasn't.

Kira sat beside Iggy, staring at every pokemon in our group. Her heart was pounding, out of her small chest, she wanted to leave. No, Desiree had said she was supposed to get to know the other pokemon aside from Iggy.

"M-My name is Kira." Kira said, "I'm afraid."

"Great first line." Iggy whispered.

"Why am I talking to them?" Kira whispered back.

"You said you wanted to get to know more of our group."

"Not all of them!"

"You know" Trish said, "Half of them are asleep right now." Rush and Pecha were both asleep, though they probably were in the first place. Saya had her back turned and was shooting shots of water off, accidentally hitting Streak. Pretty much all of them were ignoring Kira except for Anna and Trish.

"You know, all I wanted was five minutes to get to know everyone." Kira said.

"We as a group tend not to listen to what people what." Trish said.

"Why did you stay?" Trish shrugged.

"I dunno, you interested me." Trish replied. "I mean, you spent ten years in a ball"

"Eight years"

"Eight years, and didn't go insane. I mean, I know pokeballs make fake worlds for you to live in, but jeez I dunno what I'd do. They don't make fake pokemon, I'd get lonely."

"How did you even know all of that?" Kira asked, "I didn't tell you!"

"When Desiree flipped down the hill, I flew down and landed on a branch. Heard everything." Trish said. "Told everyone in the group, that's the reason they don't care, they already know." If Iggy had hands he would have done a head slap. Kira just stared at her.

"That was the most traumatic experience of my life, it's something I wasn't going to fully tell, not now, probably not ever. I don't know you and you immediately spill my life story to another group of strangers I don't know? You-you bitch! Go away!"

"Go away?"

"GO!" Trish looked a bit hurt, though frankly she had brought this on herself, and she flapped away. Kira just shook her head.

"I'm sorry." Iggy said.

"I knew it, this was a bad idea. I mean, I don't interact well with pokemon, I didn't before and I still don't, I like being with humans."

"You and me get along."

"No, we interact, but that's about it." Kira said. "Then there's Desiree whose nice but she's weird. At least she's here though, I've got something tangible! All I've had for the last eight years are…never mind." Kira sighed. She looked over at Anna who was still sitting and waiting. "What do you want? You want to hear my story, you even care?"

"I heard it already." Anna said, "I just wanted to meet you. You were stuck in your ball for eight years and I" She paused, "I can sympathize." Kira rolled her eyes I think. I don't really know, can you roll your eyes if you don't have pupils? I gotta find out some time.

"How can you sympathize? You been stuck in a ball with your trainer dead?"

"Not dead." Anna said. "I was stuck in a pokeball, in a computer box for a year, because my trainer didn't want me. The artificial environment in my ball? It never worked, I was floating in darkness. I spent a year in the void, nearly going insane, holding on because of the hatred I felt, that I feel, for Robin. That's what kept me going. What about you?" Kira thought about it.

"Memories. Of Ethan. I was his way of living on, and now Desiree is. Every memory of his, his personality, it's in her. I gave him to her and…I'm alone." Kira laughed softly. "Having those memories are what kept me going though, and now I'm free. I don't need anything." Anna sighed.

"I wish it were that easy for me sometimes. I months later and sometimes I still wake up and think I'm in the ball. I don't like being in the dark, I always go to sleep now when there is still light. Can't tell Angela that, she won't care or want me to be afraid."

"If your trainer doesn't care" Kira said, "She's not very good!"

"Don't talk like that" Anna snapped. "Angela is a great trainer, I just know she'll be disappointed, and I don't want to disappoint her. I'll tell her eventually."

"You should tell her now." Kira said, "I told Ethan everything."

"Girls" Iggy said, "Usually pokemon can't talk to their trainers."

"They don't?" The two asked in unison. Iggy shook his head…body? Does a Chinchou have a head or is it all head?

"You know, he's right." Anna said, "I don't think it's normal that our trainers can understand us."

"Mine can't actually understand me." Kira said, "I can read her thoughts and let her read mine mentally. I can't speak to her though. I can't even give anyone else my thoughts, I've tried. I wish I could."

"Does Desiree know you read her mind?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, most of it. I could read more but I don't think that's right, unlike some of my psychic brethren. Tell me Anna, what do you know about Abra and their kind?" Anna shrugged.

"Nothing, never met one. Grew up in a breeding center, then a lab, and the only pokemon I've ever met were ones I've lived with or fought against. So, never seen an Abra. Let me guess, Abra are bad."

"Abra are scum" Kira said, "Pure scum, as any Espeon will tell you. As they evolve they only get worse. They believe minds are theirs to read, and you have no claim to the thoughts in your head. Even worse, they can implant thoughts in your head while you sleep! I've never seen them do it but I they do it! I've heard stories about it from another Espeon I met once."

"Wow, they sound awful." Anna said, "I'll avoid any Abra I meet."

"Yep, you just can't trust them." I wonder if Kira would take those words back now. Well I guess I'll never know. "So, I must ask, where are we going on this long trip?"

"Well Angela is doing the Johto gym league thing" Anna said, "But we keep getting side tracked by time travel, psycho killers, and interdimensional bad guys, or at least Angela has mentioned them. I've seen the time travel thing, Angela got hit by a bright green light."

"Is this normal?" Kira asked.

"Presumably. I don't know, I just try to take it as it comes. Battles for me are the hard part, I do them because Angela likes them but I don't. I want to evolve, I do, but I don't want to battle, if that makes any sense. I hate being in pain though, and fighting scares me, every time I'm worried I'll be hurt so bad I can't be healed."

"I don't think you can be hurt that badly." Kira said. "Why do you put up with it?"

"I told you" Anna said, "Because Angela likes it."

"No, that's you trying to please her, what do you get out of this?" Kira asked, "Aside from evolution." Anna smiled softly

"Travel." Anna replied. "For a year I was stuck in that pokeball, even before then my life was pokeballs and artificial environments. I met new Torchics and Mudkips who were whisked away. When Angela let me out, I got to see the world for the first time. I got to see a tree that had grown for nearly one hundred years! If I were still in a pokeball, I'd never get to say anything like that."

"I know what you mean." Kira said. "My life has been spent within three miles of the city where I was born, and this is the first thing I want. I'd like to meet every Eon there is, I've only ever met another two Espeon, and one Jolteon who tried to mate with me."

"How would that work?" Anna asked, "I saw a Jolteon at a pokemon center once, it had a lot of spikes. Wouldn't you poke yourself? Incidentally, explain mating, I've heard that term but I don't get it." Kira just stared. "Something wrong?"

"How do you think it works?"

"I'm not sure, but I believe that it involves the touching of bodies." Kira smirked.

"If you're doing it right." She said, "But that's not the point. I want to meet all Eons, I want to go out and have my great adventure. I'd like to see what snow looks like, and climb a mounting. Maybe I could even eat a pineapple."

"You're dream in life is too eat a pineapple?" Iggy asked. "Desiree once threw one against a watermelon and used it give a painting texture."

"What happened to the painting?" Anna asked.

"Desiree ripped it up with a knife while screaming about it being the wrong color. She then went out and ate nachos. I got to eat a pepper." Kira turned away from him and looked into the forest.

"What do you suppose is out there?" Anna turned.

"Trees. I can smell them" She looked down at her talons, "I'd love to try these babies out in a real forest. I wonder how fast I could go, can I change directions?"

"I can hear them." Kira said, "The pokemon in the forest, I can hear their thoughts. Not on purpose mind you, but their dreams. Dreams are louder then thoughts, I never really got that. Usually they're rambling nonsense and just raw emotion. I can see emotion, that is-is incredible."

"Could you always see it?" Anna asked. Kira shook her head, grinning wickedly.

"I couldn't when Ethan died but I've changed. I dunno why, but I can see emotions instead of just sensing them, I can feel them now." She laughed, "It feels to good washing over me."

"What does it feel like?" Iggy asked.

"Uh, physical believe it or not. Dreams are raw emotion and random thought, it's making my heart race. Am I twitching? I think I'm twitching. Anyways, your blood races and you can feel it move."

"You didn't notice this until now?" Anna asked.

"I noticed it the first night I was free of the ball. I just didn't realize what it was, it just clicked with me. It's not just dreams, but emotions from them. I always felt them a little, all psychic-types do, but it's grown stronger."

"I think you've grown stronger as you've grown older." Iggy said. Kira sighed.

"This is nothing like the world I left behind." She said.

"Wasn't for me either." Anna said, "Of course, in my case I'd been moved hundreds of miles across a region. It takes some time getting used to it, and I still haven't really gotten used to it."

"Well, it'll be an adventure for me." Kira said. "Do you suppose I'll get to battle?"

"Not really" Iggy said, "Desiree isn't into battles I think. Truth be told, I'm not sure what Desiree is into aside from painting and wearing four layers of clothing. I once licked her paints, don't remember much after that."

"What about the others? Will any of them want to battle me?"

"We don't battle if we don't have too." Anna said, "Or I don't. Angela might ask Desiree to let you train with us. Angela is weird about this, so don't be surprised if you start training with us before the sun comes up."

"Sweet! I'd love to see a sunrise!" Kira laughed, "I've not seen one in a long time, what about you Iggy."

"…I'd say that the blind Chinchou hasn't seen a sunset in a while." Iggy said, voice full of snark. "I hope you enjoy it though."

"I'm going too. I don't want to be upset or unhappy, I want to enjoy every moment of my new world. It's great you know, a great new world." Kira smiled. "Eventually I'll even talk to the others in the group, when I'm ready. You two have made this a lot easier though, so thank you."

"Our pleasure." Anna said. "You know, it's a good thing Desiree is your trainer, you'll get along well with her."

"I think so." Kira said. "Maybe I can help her with her painting, she should use more purple. What do you think Iggy?"

"Again, asking the blind Chinchou his opinion on color! Believe me when I say this, color is not my thing. All I know is when you eat large amounts of paint, you throw up for a long time.

"None the less, I'm going to give Desiree my opinion if I think it'll help. Desiree deserves that." Kira sighed, "I'm not going to feel sad, or guilty about Ethan any more, it's a brand new world, and I'm going to love it."

Of course, it didn't work out that way, emotions rarely do. Anna and Iggy didn't for a second wonder why Kira would have felt guilty about Ethan. But more on that later.


	57. Holes In The Mind Of The Chu

**AN: **Alright, last week I was annoyed, so this week with a much calmer mind, let me state this. I will finish SOASN. You need not worry. Now, on with the chapter.

**LVII: Holes In The Mind Of A Chu**

"Pecha, who is I, who is Pecha demands more clouds!" Pecha ranted. "It is to hot to be out here! I demand rainfall, Rush sprinkle me!"

"I'd like to sprinkle you" I mumbled. Saya, who was riding on my shoulder, turned to my face.

"Uh, what does that mean?" Saya asked, "How can you sprinkle Pecha?" I paused, thinking about it.

"Well maybe not sprinkle, punt would be the correct term. Just pick her up and punt her into outer space, that would be fun. Pecha might even break orbit!"

"Hey, Pecha is awesome, lay off." Saya said. I paused. For me, Pecha is so annoying that every time I hear her loud, screeching voice, my life becomes shorter by a year. So hearing someone defend Pecha left me a bit confused.

"Since when?"

"Since always! Is she irritating, yes. But anyone who can talk about herself in the 3rd person without fear of a beating has the heart of a warrior!"

"Just out of curiosity, does everything with you have to do with the heart of a warrior? You are a Horsea! When people think warrior, they rarely think Horsea, and yet everything in your life is in terms of warrior and not warrior."

"I'm Saya." She responded, "Don't be mad because I'm awesome."

Our little group of morons was moving through a forest, not sure where exactly we were, I was having trouble thinking. It had rained all night long the night before, and as such we hadn't slept well. In addition, the sun had come out and turned the entire route into a steam bath. Most of us were to tired to talk, except our two most energetic members.

"It's such a beautiful day!" Rush chirped, "I always feel good when the sun is out and theirs a lot of water in the air, it makes me feel so alive! No water-type can be out here and not be excited!" Yet neither of the other two water-types in our group were having this reaction, leading me to conclude Rush was still an idiot. "How do you feel Pecha?"

"I am Pecha, and Pecha am hot!" Pecha said, causing grammar teachers around the world to weep. "I prefer to be in the hotel room with the cold air that is non-stop! Pecha is never hot then!"

_Please God who I probably don't believe in, please throw lightning bolts down to kill Pecha, I might consider believing. Or maybe donating a five._

Nope, no lightning bolts killing Pecha, or Rush. So the two could keep talking.

"Why don't we talk about something!" Rush said, "You'll forget you're hot and I'll get a story! Everyone wins!"

"I don't win." I mumbled, but then again no one cares what I have to say.

"What was your childhood like Pecha?" Rush chirped. Pecha laughed like a mental patient.

"I who am me had a childhood fitting for a future ruler of the world! Who no longer wants to rule the world! Not important, I grew up in the shade of a berry bush with my mother, who does not matter, and my father, who does not matter!"

"Who does matter?"

"Pecha matters! Every and all thoughts are on Pecha! Cherry also, who is my sister!" Pecha smiled softly. Or as soft as she could. "Cherry was my older sister by a year. Cherry was the smartest, strongest Pichu that Pecha ever knew!"

"Even though I've never had siblings, I've wondered about having them. My mother never wanted another Kip though." Rush said, "That was weird I thought. Were you and Cherry close?" Pecha nodded.

"Cherry taught me everything I needed to know." Pecha ranted. "Mother and Father uh, Mother and…"

_Hell, who cares? It's Pecha's family! Rush, why are you listening to this? Why do you care if Pecha has a sister? Cherry…something about this is weird._

"And? You didn't know your parents? Just not your father? Not both?" Rush asked, "Why not? Were they never around? Were they captured?"

"I uh…" Pecha's manic expression vanished for a minute. "Pecha's memory is faulty for I do not remember them! I had a mother…I think, I do not remember any stuff about them!"

_So your memory is faulty, do you blame being a bitch on a faulty personality?_

"There's nothing you remember?" Pecha shook her head.

"Head injury of Pecha could cause this! My memory of my childhood is faulty, because Pecha sustained many a head wound under the cursed care of Dana the bitch. Dana must have knocked my memories out of my head!"

"Evil woman." Rush said, "What about Cherry? What about her?" Pecha smiled.

"So many memories of her. Cherry inspired many of the acts of Pecha who I am. Cherry who helped eliminate the evil Pidgeot Death Bird!"

"Unbelievable. Does she ever shut up?" Charlotte whispered too me. "I've been traveling with you all for three months now, and I think I've not heard that Pikachu shut up once. She rants in her sleep!"

"Please" I whispered, "This is nothing. You've never heard her speech she plans to give when she rules the world."

"Really? What's the evil Death Pidgeot?" Rush asked, eyes wide with wonder. We began to trudge up a hill, sinking slightly into the mud with each step. Yet some how, this did not tire Pecha.

"Evil death birds are everywhere, but this Pidgeot was the worst! When I was younger" Pecha ranted, "The death bird Pidgeot stalked Chu, attacking them as Pichu, eating them! One day she went after me, shortly after Pecha learned to attack.

"My only attack was spark, and though Pecha had the strongest spark of any Chu, it would not defeat the Pidgeot who lived in the tree above my berry bush! One day Pidgeot swooped down at Pecha, attempting to kill me, only for me to be saved by Cherry!"

"Extraordinary" Rush chirped, "What happened next?"

"The Evil Death Pidgeot was not counting on Cherry to leap at it as it tried to fly away with me in it's evil claws. Cherry leapt on to its back, and electrocuted it! Evil Death Pidgeot started to fall with me still in it's talons.

"I was sure the end was in sight, but Cherry ran across the body of the falling Evil Death Pidgeot, and pried Pecha me out of it's claws. Holding me, she leapt off of the Pidgeot and we landed in the bush, alive!" As Pecha finished her insane story, I waited a minute to let it all sink in.

"That's crap!" I shouted. I turned to face Pecha, walking backwards now. "I mean, none of that made any sense! Your story makes physics cry!"

"Angela, why are you talking to Pecha?" Michael asked.

"Not now, I'm rolling!" I snapped. "Pecha, I have to listen to all your nonsense stupid stories, but for fucks sake, could you at least make them plausible? Col. McBragg was more believable then you! Hell, Benjamin Wade told less insane stories then you! I know this one wasn't the most insane, but it's just another example of every insane thing that flies out of your mouth, and I'm sick of hearing it. I slept like crap in the rain, it's so humid that it feels like I'm walking through slime, so the last thing I need is more of your insanity!"

Yeah, that was a bit over the top, but I was wet. I hadn't slept, and the rain last night had come right as me and your grandfather were beginning to have sex. Hell this time I wasn't planning on faking an orgasm.

What do you mean my dear listener, you don't know what faking an orgasm is? What is your mother teaching you? Hold on, let me explain.

* * *

Alright, anyway I was…stop crying. No it wont hurt when he puts it in you. You will not just have sex, no member of my family is going to be a celibate! Look, we'll talk about this later, let me finish this story.

I stopped ranting, my heart was racing and sweat was rolling down my back. Pecha was looking straight up at me.

"Did you say something cursing human? I who is Pecha was not paying attention." I screamed again in frustration, and turned to walk away. No one chose to talk to me, good. I'd have kicked them. Rush was pondering Pecha's story.

"Pecha, what do you remember about the Pidgeot?" Rush asked.

"Uh…It had talons!" Pecha exclaimed.

"I know, but what did it look like?" Pecha shrugged.

"It looked like a Pidgeot of evil death! It had, uh, feathers? Eyes I think, and a beak! Pecha does not remember." Rush cocked his head.

"I'm confused, you remember being caught by a Pidgeot, but nothing about the Pidgeot? What about the day this happened? Was it sunny?"

"Their was weather!" Pecha exclaimed. "Weather of some kind! I, Pecha remember the sky was blue on that day. Cherry was there also."

"Was it summer?" Pecha began to look concerned, her left back paw twitching as she walked. Both of her ears folded back.

"Uh, it was calm, or warm? The weather was normal. I think it was normal, their might have been clouds."

"What happened after the Pidgeot thing?" Rush asked. Pecha shrugged.

"I ate berries with might! Then Pecha slept a sleep worthy of a ruler of the world! Which I no longer am!"

"What kind of berries?" Rush asked, "Do you remember?" Pecha shook her head.

"Why would I remember which berries I ate? I ate the ones from the bush I lived under, that's what kind! They had…flavor. Juice, some juice." Pecha began to scratch the side of her head. "Why can't I remember? Did Dana hurt me that bad?"

"Tell me something else about your life" Rush said, "I want to hear more." Pecha nodded.

"Alright, Pecha was once out walking through the forest, when I who is Pecha was attacked by a hoard of four Seviper!" Seviper. Pecha was found by Dana in Johto. Seviper don't come naturally from Johto! "They all had one thing in mind, one tasty plump Pichu! Named Pecha!"

_Thanks for clarifying Pecha._

"Really?" Rush said, eyes wide again, "Wow, how did you escape Pecha?" Pecha laughed at this.

"The lead Seviper attacked me, attempting to eat the Chu. Pecha responded by waiting for it to put it's mouth over my head, when Pecha struck with thunderbolt! Seviper of doom was instantly electrocuted, fried crispy! The other two immediately fled, frightened of the Chu!" Rush smiled, but he looked confused.

"Two? Plus the leader? That's only three Seviper." Pecha nodded.

"What is your point my Kip?"

"Well, you said a hoard of four Seviper attacked you, and four is more then three. So, what happened?" Rush asked, "Was it only three Seviper? Or was it four Seviper? What happened to the fourth Seviper?" Pecha's ear twitched.

"I-I don't remember. What does it matter if their were three Seviper or four?" Pecha snapped. "Rush, please leave me alone." Rush's face filled with sorrow.

"Whu-whu-why? What did I do?" Pecha turned away.

"I just want to be alone."

* * *

Five hours later, the sun was setting, and the air was finally not as heavy with moisture. We had stopped in a clearing at the bottom of a hill. I was so tired I was lying on the ground, not caring I was covered with mud.

"Michael" I groaned, "Come to me." He walked over and sat beside me, a bemused smile on his face. "I am still in the mood tonight, I want you to service me."

"Service you?" Michael asked, "You're sweaty and covered in mud. There's so much dirt in your hair, it's caked flat on the left side."

"So?"

"…Just thought you might be curious, I'll be ready the second, the second, you need me." As Michael and I made plans, Pecha was sitting on the grass near the trail. She was looking up at the twilight sky. Rush came over beside her.

"The sky is lovely tonight." Pecha screamed in surprise, and zapped Rush for all she was worth. She stopped the moment she saw what she was doing.

"Oh my sweet Kip, I am so sorry!" Pecha exclaimed. "Are you okay?" Rush twitched, attempting to nod. Pecha sat him upright.

"Are you still mad at me?" Pecha shook her head rapidly.

"Pecha could never be mad at you, my Kip." She said. "I was just frustrated, I can't remember my past well." Rush nodded. "Have I ever told you about Dana?"

"Well, she was your first trainer." Rush said, "You said her chest-boobs didn't move when she ran, which is weird I think. Otherwise, no." Pecha nodded.

"Dana was no trainer to me." Pecha said, "Dana was a horrible evil bad woman of bad. She didn't feed me at times because she said I was a fat Chu. She hit me because she said I wasn't cute enough to be a 'purse Chu'. Dana once beat me on the head with her shoe until my head bled.

"If I whose Pecha is unable to remember, it is the fault of Dana, not Pecha. Dana beat me until I could not remember my parents, or my own…my own sisters face." Pecha said. "It scared me too, what if I forget more, what if I forget you Rush? I-I can't forget you, or Lisa, or Nel!" Now Pecha was beginning to cry, so Rush attempting to hold her and comfort her. As best as a quadruped can.

"I don't care if you forget me, I like you no matter what you remember." Rush said, licking Pecha's nose. Pecha, still teary eyed, smiled.

"Thank you my Kip." Pecha whispered, "You promise you will never leave me alone?"

"Never." Rush said.

"T-Thank you Rush." The two leaned against each other, looking up at the stars.

I'd love to tell you that this was a pointless story, and it was over after this. Except, Pecha's story wasn't over, not by a long shot, and this story was not pointless. Even to this day I still can't believe what I learned about her on that day. Not that what I learned was the most shocking part of that day, nor the worst part. Not even close.

But we will get to that later dear listener.


	58. Desperately Seeking A Trainer

**LVIII: Desperately Seeking A Trainer**

"The Duncan girl is moving closer to Ecruteak city." Not Milotic said, watching my world from Infinity. "The energy of her soul feels incredible, even from here. Yet no one down there can, or can be bothered to feel it."

"You should be grateful for this." Mew said, floating beside her. Not Milotic frowned. "I mean, if she knew what you wanted from her, she'd probably be preparing more."

"She'd also be scared." Not Milotic said. "I shouldn't enjoy it, but I do enjoy it when the Duncan girl is afraid. I want them all afraid, the entire human race, the Titans, and the Legendaries quivering at the mention of my name."

"Speaking of the Legendaries" Mew began, "I've all but confirmed that, when your war begins, I have several of my group who will side with you. In exchange for mercy and power when you become a god."

"Let me guess, Arceus is not one of the ones who will side with me?"

"I wouldn't approach him" Mew said, "Hell, you want me to stay loyal to me, promise me I'll get to kill him when the time comes."

"If that is your desire"

"Oh it is." Mew said, returning its attention to my world. "I wonder if the Duncan girl realizes how bad things are going to be? She knew about Doomsday, which bizarrely lasted three days. Three days of misery are nothing though." Mew giggled, "She'll beg for those three days when Boom Crunch comes. It's funny isn't it."

"That it is my pink associate."

* * *

"What do you think will happen when I die?" I asked Michael. He almost froze in mid-step.

"You know, I sometimes wonder just how thoughts go through your head. I bet the inside of your mind would scare me."

It was two days later, and the clouds were out, keeping it from being too hot. My legs were heavy, and I was so tired that I felt like I could fall over. For some reason, my mind kept wondering thought, to thoughts of death.

"You're not going to die soon, are you Angela?" Emily asked, her head peaking over my shoulder. "I don't want you to die." I smiled and stroked the Shinx's head.

"I'm not dying any time soon." I said.

"Not until you help me find my brother Ryan?" I paused, and smiled.

"Yep." You know, there are some things you don't realize you regret until long after they happen. But that's not important right now, no what was important was that I hadn't slept well. What's weird is I'd recently had a good fuck, which always makes me sleep well, but I hadn't. No, I'd begun thinking instead, thinking about the Titans and the Brain-Key Tattoo on my arm. About the two loons in yellow who worked for Not Milotic. Then I began thinking about death.

I had no real idea just what was happening. I knew that Not Milotic wanted something from me. I knew that the Titans wanted something from me. I knew I would one day face Not Milotic. I didn't know if I was ready to fight against Not Milotic, and to a certain degree, I knew if I did I would die.

"What do you think happens when you die Michael?" Michael shrugged.

"I dunno, what ever God has over there is waiting, I don't think to much about it."

"You believe in God?" I asked.

"I do, and I practice my religion in private" Michael said, "I just don't talk about it."

"Why?" He shrugged.

"You're not religious, and everything with the afterlife makes you uncomfortable. I never want to make you uncomfortable Angela, I want you to always be happy." I was unsure what to say. He'd thought a lot about me.

"Thanks Michael." I turned my head back towards the path, and saw an Abra and Gloom standing in the middle of the path. Unfortunately, I did not stop myself from stumbling over the Abra.

"Yahhh!" As I fell foreword, Michael grabbed me, only for me to send him falling foreword also. Unfortunately, Emily was on my back, and Gabriel was asleep in Michael's backpack. Emily immediately began to shock me out of panic, which zapped Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel awoke and bit through Michael's backpack in his panic, sending all his stuff spilling out onto the floor. Our friends behind us just watched.

"Need any help Angela?" Charlotte asked with a grin. I responded with a stiff middle finger. Virgil was coming over, but Darheel came over faster.

"Please allow me to assist you Lady Angela, take my hand." He said, holding out his blade. "Despite it's appearance, my human hand shall not harm you."

"…No thanks, I'm okay." I said, pushing myself up. Anna and Emily were now both beside me, asking me if I was okay, all the usual crap. I just shook my head and stood up.

"Damn it Nemuri" The Gloom said, "You tripped another trainer! We need help from them, so stop knocking them on their faces!" The Abra looked over at the Gloom.

"Sorry, I totally dozed off, what were you saying." Gloom opened it's mouth, and just as promptly shut it.

"Never mind. Just tell the humans what we want, you sure you can talk to their minds?"

"Totally!" Nemuri the Abra said. I looked over at Charlotte, who shrugged.

"Want me to tell them?" She asked.

"Nah, I got it." I said. "Uh, Gloom and Nemuri? Nemuri is your name, seriously? Yeah, some of us can talk to pokemon." The two looked at each other. The Gloom then looked back at me.

"Then, can you help us?"

* * *

"We're part of a, let's say herd, of pokemon." The Gloom said, "We were all once captured by trainers, and for one reason or another, we were released. We all came together over five years, and now our small group has forty-two pokemon in it."

The Gloom and Nemuri were telling us this story on the side of the path. We were all huddled up, listening, even Michael and Desiree, with me translating for them.

"Alright, odd number." I said.

"We weren't originally even a group, but eventually under our leader we came together, and we've been living in this forest. Yeah things weren't perfect, but we stayed away from humans and things were peaceful. Until this summer." Gloom looked like it was about to cry, as much as a creature with it's eyes always shut can.

"Their was a fire in our forest, and as such, a food shortage." Gloom said. "So we began to forage further into the forest. What we didn't know was that some of the places we were foraging in belonged to a pack of Houndoom."

"Houndoom?" I asked. "In this area?" They nodded. "Alright, continue."

"Well, they didn't like us. In fact, they despised us. When we started taking their food, they threatened us. They threatened to come and kill our heard of pokemon. We" The Gloom looked up, "We need help."

"If you're all formerly captured pokemon" Charlotte said, "Then why do you need our help?"

"We were released, or most of us were, because we couldn't fight." Gloom said. "Our herd is made up of lame pokemon, pokemon who can't attack, pokemon who are extremely weak, or ones like me who can't evolve."

"What about you?" I asked Nemuri.

"My trainer just didn't want an Abra." He said with a shrug. "That's okay, I didn't want him as a trainer."

"Getting back on track." Gloom said. "We've gotten info from a Spearow in our group that a pack of Houndour and Houndoom are coming for us. More then sixty of them, and other pokemon. They want to kill us all, please come and fight. Please protect us, please."

"Angela!" A harsh whisper in my ear. I glanced over my shoulder, to see Kira sitting behind me. "Desiree told me to read their minds, no matter how uncomfortable I was, and tell you. I looked in their heads, and I saw a fire, but I didn't see food. I saw eggs, burning, crushed eggs. I don't know what that means."

"Neither do I." Gloom's story was obviously a lie, even without what Kira told me. It was missing something, Houndoom wont attack for no reason.

"Alright, you're group is in danger." I said, "But if me and my friends help you, what's in it for us?" The two looked at each other.

"Our leader told us to tell a trainer this. If you help us" She swallowed, "We are all willing to let you capture one of us. Any one of us. Many of us can't fight, but some can, and…if you help us, one of us will belong to you." I turned to Charlotte.

"Give us a moment." I said to them. "Charlotte, come with me."

"What about us?" Michael asked.

"This has to do with her and me." I said. Charlotte and I stood up and walked into the woods away from them. When we were far enough away, I stopped against a tree. "Alright, what do you think? I need your opinion."

"Why mine?" Charlotte asked.

"Just tell me yes or no, and then I'll explain why." I said. Charlotte sighed.

"They're lying. I don't know what they're lying about, but they're lying." She said.

"I know. Desiree sent Kira to read their minds and tell me what she saw. Kira saw eggs and fire, don't know what kind of eggs, and the fire they mentioned." I sighed. "Look we know they're lying, but we also know they're in trouble."

"No we don't." Charlotte said, "If they're not in trouble, they might be a group of anti-trainer pokemon who want to kill us!" I gave her a look. "What?"

"That's insane!"

"Alright, maybe it is. I do know that if they're telling the truth, you just want to help them to get a fifth pokemon." Charlotte said. I laughed.

"Oh come on, do you really think I'm that selfish? I'd only help someone if there is something in it for me?" Usually not, but in this case, Charlotte was correct. "Alright, that's true but still. They do need our help." Charlotte nodded, giving in.

"Yeah, fine. I agree, we should help them." Charlotte said, "Though if this gets me killed or raped by a Seviper, I'm going to pull your head off."

"Have fun with that. Now, the reason I needed you is so you can help me avoid death. This group of released pokemon, they'll probably want us to kill whoever is going to attack them. I-I can't do that, can't kill a pokemon." I paused for a moment, "I, uh, my plan is this. I'll get my pokemon, Michael his, and Desiree will command your Quintcel and her two. We'll knock out whoever attacks the group. You need to capture them." Charlotte grinned.

"Me."

"You're the capture specialist. It's what you do. You've got to capture them, capture as many as you can. How many pokeballs do you have?"

"Four hundred." She said.

"Okay, now…four hundred?" Charlotte shrugged.

"I travel with clothing, and my unloaded gun. Everything else is pokeballs. Hell, Desiree carried the food when the two of us traveled together. I capture things for a living, so I've got a lot. Besides, when those things are shrunk down, they weigh almost nothing."

"Fair enough." I said. "So, will you help me Charlotte?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yep, let's do this."

* * *

We returned and agreed to help the group, and almost immediately we were trudging through the woods. Fun fact, walking over hills and voiding tree roots hidden by leaves while carrying heavy backpacks suck! What sucks more? Tripping over tree roots every five steps, and landing on top of Pecha, whose first response is electrocution!

"I hate this place!" I screamed, brushing mud and fried skin off of me. "Can we please just get to your group?"

"We're almost there." The Gloom said. Emily walked up beside her.

"Hey, I was kinda' wondering, you have a name?" Gloom turned and nodded.

"I have a name, we all do. Our leader though said not to give names, it would be best that way."

"Not giving names is best?" I asked.

"You said Nemuri's name!" Emily said. Gloom frowned.

"Yes, yes I did. My mistake." We continued our trudge, now up a hill. My feet slid on leaves every few steps, but Michael held my shoulders to keep me from falling over. We finally made it to the top of the hill.

"So, that it?" I asked.

"Yep, that's it." The Gloom replied. At the bottom of the hill were several pokemon of different species mulling about, walking between trees and bushes. Some Pidgey and Spearow flew between branches. At the far end of the small valley was a large rock hill, with a cave inside of it, too dark to see inside.

"It looks beautiful." Emily said, eyes wide.

"How much could I make for capturing all pokemon here?" Charlotte mumbled. I slapped her in the back of the head, nearly knocking her hat off. We descended the hill.

"Is this them?"

"It's them!"

"They found trainers!" Some of the various pokemon came over, others backed away. I noticed one in particular, I noticed a Paras off behind a tree watching me. As it moved, I noticed it was missing one of it's legs. I turned back to the crowd of pokemon, and a Murkrow dropped right in front of me.

"Are you here to help us!" It shriek.

"Gah! Emily, thunder-bolt!" Emily fired, and fried the Murkrow, knocking it out of the sky. The Gloom and Nemuri just watched.

"You know" Gloom said, "Maybe we should take you to see our leader."

"We haven't even gotten to meet the whole group!" Emily said, standing right beside the smoking, crispy Murkrow.

"Don't worry, we're sure you will get a chance." Nemuri said. We moved on, and the crowd of pokemon just watched us. I could hear them mumbling, they were less then pleased by us being here or relying on us.

We walked towards the rock wall, and the entrance to the cave there. The rock was brown stone that went almost straight up for forty feet. The entrance to the cave was a half circle only a little taller then me, with rocks sticking down. Nemuri turned to me.

"Our leader is waiting. She'll have a lot to say to you." I nodded.

"Let's go." We entered, but as we did, I got a feeling, a strange feeling of fear. I didn't know why.

I would very soon.


	59. What Lies Benieth

**LIX: What Lies Beneath**

Nemuri and Gloom lead us into the cave, down into the earth. Eventually we made it to a flat floored area at the bottom of the hill. The cave went on for about twenty feet, then turned to the right. Light was coming from there. Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"Send the blonde girl first!" Desiree looked around.

"Well actually my hair is…"

"Send the girl first! I have seen them!" My heart began to beat faster.

"How does your leader know who we are?" I asked Gloom. It shrugged.

"Our leader knows all."

"Better question." Michael said, "How can I understand this Angela? You said we're going to see a pokemon leader, and I understood them!"

"Our leader speaks human, she's over 900 years old!" Nemuri said. Michael looked at me.

"What does Ab-ab abra bra ab mean?"

"It means shut up. Desiree, move it!" Desiree shrugged, took Iggy in hand and Kira on back, and walked around the corner.

Desiree felt the heat radiating through her long sleeves, causing her to sweat. Her eye shadow began to run into her eyes, burning slightly. Still, she moved around the corner, into a chamber full of fires.

Their was a U shaped pool of what looked like water against the base of the rock wall, and fire burned on it. In the center on the rock sat a Ninetales, which in and of it's self was nothing special. Except, it was double the size of a normal one, and nearly all white with its hair grown unusually long and dirty.

"Greetings Desiree." The Ninetales said, eyes glowing slightly. Desiree paused.

"How do you know my name?" The Ninetales smirked.

"I've lived now nearly a millennium. My mind is vast and my own abilities have moved beyond mere fire-type abilities. I can see into your mind, through your mind and through your life. You should know you are in the presence of someone great as I can speak your language, something only I can do and no one in my group can."

"What do you want from me?" Desiree asked, fanning herself. Her clothes were stuck to her by sweat and she started to feel like she was being choked.

"I merely want to question you, to see if I can trust you to protect my group. I am sure that they trust you, but I am not sure I do. All I want is five minutes of your time, then I will be satisfied." Desiree nodded, noting that she had said 'I' seven times in thirty seconds.

"Alright." Desiree said. "Can I ask you something?" Ninetales nodded. "What is your name?"

"I do not see how that is relevant." She said.

"Just want to know what to call you, someone as beautiful as you has a name right?" Ninetales smirked.

"I know you are attempting flattery and wondering how well you could capture me in paint. I have had many names, but I will go by Val for the duration of the interview."

"Val?" Desiree asked. "Alright, ask away Val."

"Why are you here?" Val asked.

"…Excuse me?"

"Why are you here? It's a simple question. Angela is here because she likes being a trainer, Michael because he likes Angela, Virgil because of a stupid promise, and Charlotte because she has to be with a trainer. You Desiree have no reason. You don't belong here."

"Well I guess technically I have no reason." Desiree said.

"Good, you admit it. Leave the group."

"What?" Val cocked her head.

"You admit you have no reason. You're among people who don't care for you, going on a journey you have no reason to be on. You can't practice your supposed art."

"I've got plenty of time to practice." Desiree said defensively.

"I don't like this Val." Iggy said. Kira said nothing.

"You're not improving." Val said. "You have pokemon with you and don't train them. Don't you think they deserve an actual trainer?"

"They don't need a trainer. Iggy has me, Kira has me, I love them without having them fight." Desiree said. "Iggy does not want to fight, Kira never did."

"You're with others who don't love you. They can't stand you and you ignore it. You know they see you as weird, as the freak who talks to fruit and wears so many bright colors and cakes on thick makeup." Val's face had gone almost completely emotionless. "Every time you think someone is judging you, you do something even more weird. You don't like people disliking you for how you act, you want all people to like you, even though they hurt you. If I were you, I would leave, I would be miserable." Desiree looked at her, and shrugged.

"Yep."

"Excuse me?"

"I know people don't like me when they meet me, and hell, they might find me annoying or hate me. I don't care though. I'll just be friendly and cheerful, love them as much as they hate me." Desiree smiled. "I'm happy anyway, you can't make me miserable." Val nodded.

"Thank you. Send Charlotte."

* * *

"Val." Charlotte said. "A Ninetales named Val, seriously who named you Val?"

"It's a name I am fond of." Val said, "I do not see why it matters to you. I merely wish to ask a few questions." Charlotte smiled.

"Shoot." Val paused, her eyes flashing for a moment.

"Tell me about Thomas." Charlotte's smile dropped. "You know, your brother. Diagnosed with nothing and yet is so crazy that you locked him away"

"Shut up."

"Far away from you"

"Shut up!"

"So that you don't have to see him and you can forget about him."

"SHUT UP" Charlotte screamed, spit spraying out of her mouth. Her face was red and her heart was pounding. Charlotte grabbed her denim skirt, holding it to resist pounding Val. Val smirked.

"Found a sore spot did I? My my my. I'll get back to that in a minute, let me ask you something. Why do you wear what you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Denim vest, denim jacket, denim skirt, black and white swirl top, brown leather boots, brown cowboy hat, and the belt with forty pokeballs on it. You carry two of the same outfit in your pack. You like things familiar. Why is that?"

"No reason." Charlotte snapped, "I just do."

"You just do, how quaint. I've seen into your mind. I've seen how before you left home, how life was. It wasn't consistent. It was changing at the whims of your brother, and your parents gave in. You never knew what consistency was, you slept with your door locked. You've still got a scar on the back of your left leg from when he cut you with scissors, something you never saw coming. But then again you never saw it coming did you?"

Charlotte was silent. She was wishing she had Quintcel, but she'd told him to stay behind. Her eyes started to tingle.

"Yet, in spite of this inconsistency, in spite of your attempts to structure your own life, you still care about your brother. You still travel with those who you know are chaotic. You live without structure. It's fascinating really. Tell me Charlotte, what would you do to cure your brother?"

"Anything."

"Anything. Would you steal from someone innocent?"

"Yes." Charlotte said.

"Would you lie or betray your friends?"

"Yes." Val nodded. Her tone dropped.

"Would you kill an innocent? Would you kill in cold blood?"

"Yes." Charlotte said. No hesitation, no fear, no thought, just a declaration of what she would do. Val nodded.

"Send Virgil."

* * *

"Don't you wish to know my name?" Val asked, "To have some idea what to call me by?" Virgil shook his head. Thus far he had barely responded to any of her questions and had pretty much refused to talk. He didn't want to know her name, she was the enemy and it was important to remember that. "Alright, that's your choice. I must tell you Virgil, you are an enigma to me, more so then the others among you whose mind's I've looked into."

"I've heard of Ninetales who can do this." Virgil said, "It is a reason Zangoose do not trust your kind."

"I learned how to do it shortly after turning eight-hundred." Val said. "You'd be amazed what you could learn once you could read and manipulate minds. You are an enigma though, I see in your head and I see almost nothing. I see memories, but no emotion in them. I hear no thoughts, you've completely surprised them. It's incredible, your mind is almost unbreakable. Why do you suppose that is?"

"It's good to have a strong mind and body." Virgil stated.

"It is, but that's not why you've removed emotion from your personality. When you do that, it's because your memories hurt you. You of course will deny that."

"I have no need to deny anything. It is not true."

"Isn't it?" Val asked. "You tell me your memories of Enfer bring you no pain?"

"No."

"Your memories of Mara? Of her death?"

"No."

"Your memories of the Arbok you killed? How about your few thoughts I could see, like what you know you'll have to do to protect Angela? Does that upset you at all?" Virgil shook his head.

"If you can see those memories, and some of my thoughts, then you should know something."

"What?"

"That I will do whatever it takes to accomplish my goals, murder included if it is needed." Val smiled.

"Would your goals include protecting all of us?" Virgil shrugged.

"If Angela dictates it, then yes. I was told by Enfer, should she die, that I was to protect and assist her daughter. I will do it." Val cocked her head.

"Not very complex are you?"

"I am what I am needed to be."

"Thank you, I am done with you. Send the other boy."

* * *

"I'm talking to a Ninetales." Michael said, "A pokemon, I'm talking to a pokemon and she's named Val. How many Ninetales are named Val? What do I care, I'm talking to a pokemon!"

"You're very excited by this." She said with a flat voice. "Why is that?" He laughed.

"Everyone in my group, every single one can speak to Pokemon except for me. They all act like I can, but I can't and they forget that I can't, not that I blame them."

"I find that humans usually say they don't feel something or hold something against another human" Val said, "and that means they do hold it against them." Michael's smile dropped. "Much better. I do not want you excited, this is to determine if I trust you to help us, not to catch us. I want to see how you will be in combat, will you be moral or immoral. Will you be calm headed or blood thirsty?"

"Calm and moral." Michael said, "Believe me, when you travel with my group you have to be."

"You will huh?" Michael's bottom was sweating due to the heat from the stone he was sitting on. The flames all around Val burned high above her, but in spite of that their seemed to be no light on her, only shadow. Her red eyes glowed in the light. "Tell me about Angela. Tell me, why do you like her?"

"Angela? You can read my mind and you don't know that?" Michael asked. "She's…a force. She's strong, mouthy, loud, loyal, and a cursing machine. Angela is everything I am not."

"Yet this is an attraction for you. Amazing." Val said, "Tell me, when Angela mocks you, or condescends you, does it bother you?"

"Nope."

"Not at all?" Val asked.

"Not at all." Val nodded.

"Well, you're either the most honest, calm, and forgiving person I've met, or you are in denial. I know you don't like it when things don't go your way, or when people talk over you. You feel jealous because the others can understand pokemon, and you resent your Angela."

"Why on Earth would I resent her?" Michael asked, "Do tell."

"Because of what she brings to your life." Val said. "As much as you love her, it upsets you that she's the reason people die around you. Death follows you because of her. Because she doesn't care that death is following you." Michael's face was blank, sweat dribbling down it. "You bury that inside though, because that's what you do, you're Michael you have to be the adult!"

"You're right." Michael snapped, emotion flaring up, "I do have to be the adult in our group, and I don't like it. I don't like that I have to be consistent and go along with things without complaint. But you know what? I do it anyway. Do I like it? Not always, but if I did, I'd be a robot. I'm the adult because someone has to be, like it or not, it's the right thing to do."

"And you will do the right thing?"

"Damn right." Val nodded.

"Send in Angela."

* * *

"I'm disappointed." I said, sitting down in front of Val. "I was expecting some big tough bad ass of a Pokemon. Instead I see a Ninetales whose so old a stiff wind could kill her, named Val. Seriously, Val? What the fuck was whoever named you thinking?" Val said nothing.

"Does tearing down your enemy make you feel stronger?"

"Beating them in battle makes me feel stronger."

"Ah. You like being strong, I can tell." Val smiled, "I must confess, I've chosen to largely not enter your mind. I decided to wait until now."

"Why?" I asked. I already didn't like this Val, she'd entered my friends minds without telling them and frankly, if it's in your mind it's no ones business but yours. But I wanted Nemuri, I wanted an Abra, and trying to catch one in the wild without it teleporting off was a pain in the ass. So I endured and chose not to cold-cock her glowing red eye.

"Because I had trouble entering your mind" She said, "And because I thought you might be uncomfortable knowing I was doing it."

"Well you got that right." I said, clenching my fist. "Get it over with so I can get out of here, I need to see how this valley you're living in is laid out."

"But of course." Val said. Her eyes began to glow, and she frowned. "I can see death but not your memories. Why is this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Death, you've been thinking about death a lot." Val's eyes glowed brighter. "You've dreamed about it, but that's all surface, what is deeper? What are you hiding from me Ms. Duncan?"

"Don't really see how that's your problem?" Val laughed, though I could hear the annoyance in her voice. "You don't like it when you don't get your way do you?"

"I'm not the inquisitor here Ms. Duncan, I am" Val paused. "You have a tattoo on your arm."

"Yeah, so what?"

"Hold it up for me to see.

"Why?"

"Hold it up!" I shrugged and held it up, so she could see the eye in the triangle on the palm of my hand. Val stood up, fear etched on her face.

"Get out."

"What? Why? You're still deciding—"

"You can help defend us, I give you my approval, just get away from me!"

* * *

An hour later, Gloom and Nemuri entered the chamber of their leader. Val was laying down, the fires behind her almost out.

"You didn't tell us which you have chosen." Gloom said. "We waited, but we will wait no longer." Val sighed.

"The boy Michael and Desiree are too moral to help us, unlikely to kill. Knock them out with Sleep Spore, let them spend their time here asleep."

"The Duncan girl isn't unlikely to kill?" Nemuri asked.

"No, she probably wont kill." Val said, "Incidentally, she want's to take you, should she and her friends fulfil their end of our deal. She want's an Abra."

"I feel so lucky."

"I had to select the Duncan girl, from the moment I saw that tattoo." Val laughed, "She's with the Titans, they are protecting her. If I refused her, I don't know what would have happened, you can't trust the Titans."

"Titans?" Gloom asked. Val didn't here the question and kept talking.

"Their energy radiated from that tattoo, which is why I couldn't see into her mind. I could see the surface, but the tattoo blocked me, the energy was overwhelming, and when I finally got a look at it, at the eye of it, the energy overwhelmed me. I saw something, a vision of the future." Val swallowed. "I saw a blood red sky, and under it was fire. Humans and pokemon were every where, all dead, bodies pilled twenty high. In the sky I saw a Milotic, who was more then that. I saw flashes of what lead up too it. I saw a tragedy coming, coming very soon for the five of them."

"What do you mean?" Nemuri asked. Val paused, as if thinking about it.

"I-I can't be sure, but I only saw four of them on the day when the sky is red, and I do not know which four. I believe, no I think that I know why. I think one of those five is going to die, and very soon."

**AN: **I needed the name of someone who will mess with someone psychologically, so I of course picked Val. Anyone who knows what I'm talking about will get it.


	60. Preparation

**AN:** I'm sorry this couldn't be up last week, I came down with a virus and ended up too sick to write. But I am back with a chapter, enjoy.

**LX: Preparation**

The five of us were made too wait outside of Val's chamber. I didn't want to talk about my little encounter with Val, but that didn't stop people from asking me.

"So she couldn't read your mind at all?" Michael asked.

"Once again, she tried, couldn't get into it, don't know why, don't care why." I said, leaning against the back rock wall. "She got freaked out by my tattoo so she must know something about the Titans. Maybe she's seen it before, she's been alive damn near a millennium."

"I think we should leave and get as far away from here as we can." Virgil said, "Ninetales never reveal their real goals, they always want something more."

"I'm inclined to agree." I said. "She's hiding something, I dunno what, but I don't doubt that Houndoom are coming to kill all of them, so it really doesn't matter." I shot Virgil a look. "We have to help them." He sighed.

"You are right." Virgil looked up the path leading out of the cave. He looked life he was about to say something else when Gloom walked out again.

"Our leader has decided which of you can help us." It said, "Those who she deemed most bloodthirsty."

"What?" Gloom bent over and shot out two plumes of purple smoke, one into Michael's face, one into Desiree's. The two passed out under the effects of the sleep gas. I lunged and grabbed the Gloom under the mouth.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"It was deemed necessary" Gloom gasped, "Your friends will sleep through the battle, in safety. They will be unharmed." I let go of Gloom.

"You promise?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"My friend Charlotte has a gun around her waste, you can see it there right now. If you do not keep them safe, I will put a bullet between your eyes, then your leaders eyes, then I will let the Houndoom finish the rest of you off." Gloom's eyes practically popped out of it's skull. "Just thought you should know."

* * *

The Worthless Rejects (minus Gabriel and Trish), and Iggy stayed with the unconscious bodies of Michael and Desiree. The rest of us were divided into small teams, standing on the top of the hills around the valley, waiting for Houndoom to show up. The sun was high in the sky, setting too slow, and it was unbearably hot.

"You see anything?" Gabriel asked.

"Nothing." Trish said, fluttering just above him. "I see woods, and man do those trees in the distance look burned. No Houndoom I can see."

"Good." Gabriel sighed. "So we have nothing to do but wait, and when they do show up, we just need to knock them out, awesome. I don't want to be here."

"We need all the water-types we can get." Trish said.

"Rush isn't here."

"Rush inhaled a face full of sleep powder, if he were here it would only be as a Kip target." Trish replied. "Are you nervous about this?" Gabriel shook his head. "I am. No trainers to give any orders, we're just supposed to stop anyone from climbing up these hills."

"Fine with me." Gabriel said. "I want to knock as many of them out as I can, maybe then I can evolve."

"You want to evolve?" Trish asked.

"Of course, don't you?"

"The last time I checked, I couldn't. If I could though, I wouldn't want too. I'm happy as I am, and frankly I don't have any interest in battling if I don't have too. I figured since you didn't battle, you didn't care."

"You figured wrong." Gabriel said. "I don't care about battling anymore, I did with my first trainer, but…not important. Anna evolved, and when she did she was bigger then me, and stronger. I want to be her size, her strength, and to do that I've got to evolve. I'm not scared because I may evolve, in fact, I'm excited." Trish swallowed.

"I wish I was. I'm never excited about getting involved in things. This-This is not what Flash taught me."

"Flash?" Gabriel asked. "I've heard him mentioned, he was…an electric-type?"

"He was an Ampharos." Trish snapped. "The most wonderful one who ever lived. He believed in peace and he said that I wasn't a fighter, not really. I was an observer of things. I-He was right. Flash was…my mate, or the closest thing I had." She sighed. "I doubt he'd be happy I'm here. I mean, I'm not even happy I'm here, but I am! I don't want to travel with this group anymore, but I still do!"

"Why?" Gabriel asked.

"Why do you seek Anna? Aside from the gratification of your penis?"

"Because she's a grass-type. Grass-types are incredible." Gabriel said.

"You know, most water-types who are attracted to grass-types are condoned by other water-types." Trish said. "Given that physical interaction between you two could harm you, it's an odd fetish isn't it?"

"Maybe, but it's a damn fun one."

* * *

"I don't want to be here." Kira ranted. "Houndoom are dark-types, I'm psychic-type, I can't do anything here! I want to be with Desiree!"

"Well tough." Charlotte said, "You want to be useful, then throw some rocks with your mind or something. You got to be able to do something here!"

"Lady Charlotte, what shall I be doing?" Quintcel asked. "Shall I also throw rocks? I believe this would be a waste of my skills and I think my strength and the strength of my horn would be better utilized to knock out the enemies." Charlotte just looked at him.

"What?"

"What are your commands my Lady? I will protect you throughout this unless you wish me to do something else." Charlotte shrugged.

"Just knock out as many Houndoom as you can. I've gotta catch them. Even if I have enough pokeballs, there is no guarantee I will get every one of them. Knock them out and make sure they don't get up again soon."

"Shall I break their necks?"

"It should disturb me that your first response is death combat, but I'm oddly at peace with that thought. Unfortunately I agreed no killing, so no you shall not." Charlotte sat down on the ground. "The Gloom or the Abra, I forget which, they said I was allowed to help protect their valley because I would have the least qualms about violence. Is that true?"

"Does it matter?" Kira asked.

"Well yeah, sort of. I'd like to think of myself as a patient, quiet, calm person who is not quick to anger."

"And I like to think of myself as being three hundred feet tall." Kira said, "You know what? I'm still not that tall."

"…Thanks for putting me at ease."

* * *

"I am a warrior." Saya said with a grin, "This is what I live for, this is what I like. Waiting for a fight, watching the sun begin to dip, that feeling of anticipation as you can the trees and hope to see some form of movement. It's a rush, isn't it?" Virgil looked down at her.

"I do not enjoy that rush. Battle is necessary, not pleasure." Virgil said.

"You believe that? Please." Virgil said nothing, just sitting down. Emily was on his other side, to the left of him, looking at the forest below them. She was sweating, though not from the heat.

"I-I don't think I like this. Like at all, I don't want to fight Houndoom." Emily said. "What if we get hurt? I don't want to get hurt."

"You've never interacted with Houndoom. They do not attack the young or the unevolved, unless they consider them a threat. You are not a threat."

"I am totally a threat!" Emily squeaked. "I'm the toughest Shinx here I'll have you know!"

"You're the only Shinx here." Saya said. "If you're not the toughest one here, their is something wrong. Besides, no one is going to be threatened by something that weights half as much as a cantaloupe soaking wet. Now, you want to be viewed as a threat? Fight them! Be a warrior!"

"I want to be with Angela and Anna." Emily said. "No offence, but I don't trust you. I don't know you really."

"You trust them?"

"Angela could put me in a pokeball. No matter what you want to say about those, you're safe inside of one."

"Unless it breaks." Saya said. Emily paused. "Still feel safer there?"

"…Maybe." Emily sighed. "I don't know, what does this have to do with Ryan? Nothing. Since it doesn't, I don't really know why we're here."

"Ryan?" Saya asked.

"I don't want to talk about that." Emily said. "It's something I want to be doing, and I can't be because we're here. I feel bad that I can't look for Ryan, but this is something Angela wants, so I feel bad about feeling bad since I owe Angela!" She stopped her rant. "There are flowers down there, I hope they don't get destroyed by the Houndooms."

"You focus on weird things before battle." Virgil said. Emily looked up at him.

"What're you doing here?" Emily asked.

"I'm here to fight."

"I don't mean in battle, I mean why are you here with us?" Emily asked, "I don't know why you're here, you don't talk any."

"I made a promise." Virgil said. "I promised the most extraordinary Arcanine I ever knew I would protect her daughter. Even if my life is forfeit."

"Okay, that makes some sense I guess. But, what about once you're done? Or, when will you be done? What will you do then?" Virgil said nothing. "Well?"

"I have not given it much thought." He stated. "I wish to find a mate. I wish to return to the forest and live as a Zangoose should. I wish…what I wish is irrelevant. I must keep my mind focused on this mission."

"Keep thinking about it." Saya said, "Maybe we'll die warriors deaths and won't have to worry about what to do later." Virgil nodded.

"With any luck."

* * *

"Why am I here?" Nemuri asked me. "I should be with my master, or watching your sleeping duo. I do not need to be on the front line."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you said that pokemon from this group would help me." I said. "Yet, how many do I see? Well I see you and I see you! I guess that means you are helping me." Nemuri mumbled something I could barely make out. Anna was beside me to my right, breathing heavily. I could tell she was nervous, but she had yet to say anything.

"I believe I see movement in the distance." Darheel said from behind me. I had told him, then ordered him, to go be with Kira and Gabriel. Instead he had said he was a knight protecting me or something, and that he would only go if during combat I was okay. Also, I suspected he did not like Nemuri and wanted to use his "human" blades to cut him.

"They might be." I said. The sun was starting to set. "I expect them to attack as soon as it's dark. Houndoom are stronger at night. Lord knows I was when I was an Umbreon."

"I am afraid that their fire will be very effective against me, I shall have to move quickly." Darheel said. "I would prefer not to use these blades, but if you authorize it Lady Angela, I shall."

"No, don't." I said. "Use them if we start getting really badly hammered, but I want to avoid as much loss of life as possible. Nemuri turned to me.

"Why would you want to do that? If they're trying to kill us, kill them back!" Nemuri snapped.

"No. Besides, why would they be trying to kill us, because you accidentally destroyed some of their food? That doesn't make any sense to me." I looked at Nemuri. "What did you morons do anyway?"

"I told you about the accident…"

"You told me a pack of very blatant and obvious lies. Plus my friend Desiree, you remember her, the blonde girl? If she gets hurt, I plan on letting my green friend here gut you. Anyways, she used her Espeon to tell me what you and your Gloom friend were thinking, and while she didn't learn what it was exactly, she said it had something to do with eggs. Burning eggs." I looked him straight in the closed eyes. "What did it have to do?"

"…I do not see why that is relevant."

"It wasn't going to be, but the insistence all of your seem to have towards me killing these Houndoom has made it relevant. So tell me."

"I am afraid I must refuse." Nemuri said. "Our leader Val would be displeased."

"Tell me." I said. "If we're going to be attacked, I deserve to know just why we're being attacked. Why are we helping you?"

"No. I will not tell." I turned to Darheel.

"Alright. Darheel, please place your blade under Nemuri's throat." Before Nemuri could react, the blade was there. "How long does it take for an Abra to teleport Darheel? How long would you guess?"

"Three seconds my Lady." Darheel said. "I can assure you, should he attempt, I will have his throat cut in that time. As a bug-type, surviving the wound would be impossible for him." Nemuri gulped.

"Good. Now, as I said I want to avoid loss of life. Which is why you're going to tell me just what your leader Val wants." I said. "If not…well you're a psychic-type, and I'm imagining what will happen. You can read my mind to see." Nemuri began to sweat.

"We did go out searching for food." Nemuri began. "We did enter into an area of the forest controlled by a pack of Houndoom, but they let us enter willingly. We did not need to sneak in. Our two groups had peace. I was one of our party, as was my Gloom associate, and a Sandslash whose name I will not reveal for his safety.

"The Houndoom allowed us to take any berries on bushes, but not any vegetables that grew underground. While they don't eat them, they use them to lure prey into the open to attack. Our Sandslash associate does not eat meat though, and decided taking a few would not harm anyone.

"He tunneled underground outside of their territory, and planned to tunnel over to retrieve what he wanted. Unfortunately, his tunneling caused a cave in of an underground cavern he didn't know was there."

"What was there?" I asked. Nemuri swallowed.

"The Houndoom had an underground hatchery, all of their unhatched eggs were there. Over thirty of them. The cave in destroyed every egg. My Sandslash friend escaped, but the Houndoom wanted blood. They wanted him to die, and sent a single Houndoom to retrieve him. When our leader Val refused to give him over, the Houndoom decided that nothing short of fire and vengeance would satisfy him." I laughed at this, I couldn't help it.

"You killed their children. You want us to defend you after you killed their unborn children. Jesus, I'm half tempted to leave you all here. I wont though, I swore I would protect you. God knows just what that means now." I paused, "How did you know all eggs were crushed?"

"My Sandslash friend"

"Would not have waited around to see" Darheel said. "Lady Angela is right, how do you know?"

"I do not want" Darheel's blade dug in deeper, "Our leader! Val saw it happen!" Darheel lowered his blade slightly.

"Val saw what?" I asked.

"Our leader Val is prone to visions at time, visions of the future. She saw what happened, saw us destroy the hatchery. She told us after we returned from our mission."

"Val sent you anyway?" I asked. "Why?"

"I do not know. I suspect—"

"They're here!" Anna yelled. We all turned, to see smoke in the forest. Flames among the foliage, moving towards us. The sun was low behind the trees.

The battle was about to begin.


	61. The Burning Valley

**LXI: The Burning Valley**

Val could hear me approaching. Her eyes were tight shut, her snout pointed at the ground, and her tails pulled against her body. Michael, Desiree, and the other Worthless Rejects were asleep against the corner of the wall that lead to her chamber. I paused for a moment to look at Michael, before continuing on. I looked down at the single pokeball shrunk around my waist.

I took one step into her chamber. Flames lit around Val, and her eyes opened. She smirked, as only a Ninetales can.

"So the conflict is finished." I nodded.

"Yep. The Houndoom are gone." I said.

"You killed all of them already?" Val asked. "Huh, that is rather unfortunate. Still, I suppose worse things could have happened."

"Yeah, I suppose." I said. "I know about the hatchery Val. I know why the Houndoom really attacked you."

"Do you now?" Val yawned. "I hardly see why they attacked as being of any relevance. The point was they did, and you succeeded. Nemuri I assume will be joining you now?"

"I have only one question" I said, ignoring her crap, "Why? You had a vision of your own pokemon destroying the Houndoom hatchery, and you let them go on anyway." Val laughed.

"I suppose I should explain, shouldn't I? How about this, you tell me the events of the battle, and I will tell you my reasons. Deal?" I nodded.

"Deal."

* * *

I ran over to Virgil, legs pumping, jumping over rocks, holding Nemuri by the ear. Anna and Quintcel were following behind me. I made it over to him as smoke began to drift up from most of the forest.

"What do you know about Houndoom?" I asked.

"Angela? Houndoom, I know much about them. What specifically do you need to know?"

"Who will be leading them?" I asked. "I found out a little bit of info from this little" I looked down to see I was not holding Nemuri. In fact, I was holding nothing! "Little teleporting piece of fucking shit! Who will be leading the Houndoom?"

"The oldest." Virgil said, "The oldest who can fight, expect to see them heavily scarred. They will be the only one who can call off the attack."

"What're you trying Angela?" Anna asked from behind me. I gulped.

"I wish I knew. Doesn't matter, here they come."

* * *

Gabriel watched as Houndoom poured out of the trees, flames coming from their mouths, setting the side of the hill on fire. Trish was above the smoke, which was rapidly growing thicker.

_Wait for it_

They began to run up the hill.

_Don't attack too soon._

They approached the crest.

_Right…NOW!_

Three Houndoom made it to the top of the hill, only to be hit by Gabriel's water gun, across all three of their faces. They gagged, spewing smoke, and went tumbling down the hill.

"You got 'em, more are coming!" Trish said.

"Thanks. I will keep it up!" Gabriel ran to the edge, and fired water guns straight down. One blast hit a Houndoom on in the center, and sent her spinning back into another four, knocking them over. They rolled down the hill.

Smoke continued to thicken, to the point that Gabriel was just randomly firing into a wall of hanging smoke.

"Trish! I can't see!"

"Neither can I." Trish's voice called back. "Just wait for the smoke to start to clear."

"Alright. I'll try and—"

"Help me!" Anna screamed from within the smoke. "Help please help me!" Gabriel turned to where the voice came from and ran. He could hear Trish yelling, but he didn't care.

"Anna needs my help" Gabriel chanted, running on all fours through the smoke, jumping over rocks. He jumped over a rock and landed on Anna. "Oh shit!"

Anna was trembling against a rock. She looked up at Gabriel.

"G-Gabriel? Hel-help me. I can't do this!"

"What's going on Anna?" Anna uncurled and sat up, against the rock.

"The Houndoom!" Anna cried. "They're every where, and flames are everywhere, and Angela was giving orders, and Charlotte was throwing pokeballs, and then fire! A Houndoom jumped out so I pounded it, and that didn't do anything! It burned me oh my God it hurt! I can't fight anymore, I just can't!"

"Anna don't worry! It's alright, I'm here." Gabriel said, stroking her arm. "You and me are fine."

"I wouldn't say that." Gabriel turned, to see a Houndoom emerge from the smoke. Smoke was coming out of his nostrils, and a smile was on his snout. He licked his jowls. "I've never killed a Grovyle before, never killed a Totodile either. This should be fun!"

"Kill this asshole!" Gabriel shot a watergun, which he met with a flame-thrower. Steam began to surround them. Gabriel continued to push the flame-thrower back, finally shooting his water-gun into the Houndoom's mouth. Houndoom began to cough, but Gabriel kept firing. Houndoom stepped back, back, back again, then stumbled.

The two watched him fall back, over the edge, into the smoke. Gabriel stopped, panting, water dripping out of his mouth.

"Gabriel you saved me!" Anna chirped. Gabriel panted, and then he began to glow white. "…Gabriel?"

Gabriel grew in size, especially girth, though his muzzle grew more blunt. The ridges along his spine grew longer and sharper. The glowing died down, and a Croconaw stood before Anna. Gabriel looked at his wider body slowly.

"I evolved?" He grinned. "Awesome."

* * *

I saw the Houndoom I needed, right before the smoke covered us. I saw a Houndoom barking orders, howling, and the others around it following it's command. The Houndoom in question only had one eye, the other was a mass of white tissue, and it's left horn was broken off.

Unfortunately, the fire on the side of the hill blanketed us with smoke rather quickly. I bent over, coughing.

"D-Darheel? Anna?"

"I'm here Lady Angela." Darheel said from behind me. "Ms. Anna avoided a stream of fire. I believe she took off running. I think"

Whump! Darheel's body slammed into me, knocking me on my face, and knocking all but two of the empty pokeballs I had on my waste off.

"Damn it!" I climbed out from under the slightly burned Scyther, to see a Houndoom standing there.

"Humans?" He asked. "Here? Why?"

"Believe me, it's not by choice." I said. The Houndoom did a jump back.

"Y-You can understand me!" I grabbed a rock out of the ground. "How? How can you?"

"Shut up." I threw the rock and struck the Houndoom between the eyes, knocking him down. I stood up and stumbled on into the smoke. Unfortunately, the smoke was so thick I had to crawl, over the rocks and in the mud.

"God, where am I?" I stumbled past Saya, knocking out two Houndoom, and Charlotte with a pile of filled pokeballs beside her. "How many Houndoom are there?" I stopped by myself just to cough, to try to catch my throat.

"A human?" I turned, to see…

"You." The one-eyed Houndoom. His tail was twitching, embers dripping from his jaw. "You're the pack leader aren't you?"

"Yes I" He cocked his head. "You can understand pokemon? No, you're protecting this valley. You're protecting the Ninetales!" I could see him forming flames, so I leapt to my feet, tattoo glowing. I placed my hand in front of him, and a bright light blinded us.

I fell foreword…

* * *

…And I slammed into the desert of my mind. I stood up slowly, rubbing my non-physical head.

"God, that always hurts." I said. My mind looked the same, a desert as dry as dust and far, far away from the ocean. Across the way, my desert suddenly turned into a forest, thick with trees and undergrowth.

From it emerged the One-eyed Houndoom. He looked around, sniffing the air, and then turned his good eye on me.

"You." He stepped out of the wood. "I was attacking you. Where are we? How can you understand me?"

"It's a long story." I said, standing up. I checked, around my waste were four pokeballs attached by silver cords, the manifestation of the mental bond between me and my pokemon. The fifth, crimson cord was also there, sticking straight out. In fact, it looked a little longer. "As for where you are, you and I are inside of our minds. The forest and desert? Representations. Our minds are linked temporarily, and don't ask how I got this power, I barely understand it myself." He nodded. He walked over and sat down in front of me.

"Explain what you want human. Depending on what I here will decide if I rip your mental head off." Great negotiator.

"What's your name?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to know just who I am talking too." He thought about it and nodded.

"Keitasu, leader of this pack." He said. "Now, explain. Are you working for that vile Ninetales?"

"Not exactly." I said, "What do you know about her?" Keitasu growled.

"We know she can see oracles of the future. We know that as a Ninetales, she never does anything without a reason. She killed our young! Though I do not know why, I am certain she did it for a reason!"

"You're probably right about that." I said. "Yeah, I am sort of working for me. She sent two pokemon out to find a human trainer to help defend this valley. You're looking at the trainer." He cocked his head.

"What is in it for you?"

"An Abra." I said. "Now, as I discovered right before you and your group attacked was Val, the Ninetales, did in fact know your hatchery was going to be destroyed. I don't know what she's doing, or what she wants to gain, but I promise you I will find out. Please, please stop attacking us. I don't want anyone to die."

"It's too late for that." Keitasu snapped, "Our unborn are dead. My pack may not be able to sustain it's population. Someone has to die." I paused, then grinned.

"Someone has to die? In that case, may I make a suggestion?" I quickly explained my idea to Keitasu, making up some of it as I went along. When I finished, he closed his eye, and nodded.

"I except your proposal. I will call off the attack."

"Thanks" I said. The tattoo on my arm began to glow. We were thrown out of the mental world…

* * *

…And into the real world, the real smoky world. I fell back onto my ass, landing on a rock (of course), screaming with pain.

Keitasu stumbled back, his good eye blinking rapidly. He looked up at me.

"Time to honor your end of the deal." I said. Keitasu nodded. He turned his snout towards the sky.

"Doooooooooooom!" He howled. As the smoke cleared, I could see outlines of Houndoom. The moment they heard that, they froze. Keitasu returned his attention to me.

"What just happened?" We turned, and watched a bruised Nemuri coming over. Or rather, not bruised. A muddy Nemuri who had hid for the entire battle. "What did you do Angela? How did you—" I unclipped one of the only two pokeballs around my waste and tossed it at Nemuri, catching him in mid-ramble.

The ball hit the ground, didn't shake, and locked almost instantly. I picked it up, and put it in my pocket.

"This is my payment." I mumbled. I unclipped the other ball, and turned to Keitasu. "Now time to give you yours."

* * *

"They surrendered?" Val asked.

"All of them." I said. "With Keitasu unwilling to fight anymore, he could just command his pack to stop. They did of course. I'm glad, I didn't want to catch them any more, I honestly doubt I could have given how many their were." Val nodded.

"What did you promise to give that savage?" Val asked. "You never did tell me."

"Your vision first." I said. "You promised, now own up to it." Val nodded.

"Fair enough. Yes I did have a vision of the destruction of the hatchery, a day before I sent out my little merry band to forage for food." Val sighed. "I also saw the coming battle, one in which we would be saved and the Houndoom would be destroyed by an overwhelming force. Tell me Angela, do you know what it's like for a formerly trained pokemon to live in forest full of wild pokemon?" I shrugged.

"Easy?"

"Horrible!" She shouted. "Many wild pokemon don't trust you, they may attack you, drive you out of your home, take you as their mate or who knows what, because they don't fear you. They think you needed a human to make you strong, and nothing convinces them otherwise.

"This vision I had I could avert or let play out. If I let it play out though, I knew that I would survive, and that this valley would be unharmed. Not only that, but the other pokemon in the forest would know we beat a large pack of Houndoom."

"Me and my friends beat them." I said.

"I'm leaving that detail out. Beside, how doesn't matter, what matters are the results. There are unconscious or captured Houndoom all around. Any pokemon in this forest who think about entering this valley without my permission will know about what happened here today. They will fear us! They will fear me!"

"So, you essentially declared war on a pack of Houndoom who were friendly with you" I said, "As part of a convoluted power play?"

"That's correct. Minus the convoluted part." Val said. I nodded, then chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"You know, when I told Keitasu about your vision" I unclipped the single pokeball attached to my waste "He was pissed, he wanted to kill you. I don't blame him really. Mind you, he couldn't get near you. If he entered the cave, you'd hear him coming, you'd make a run for it, or call other pokemon to help you."

"Yes, that moron could never get to me." Val said.

"You're right, he can't." I enlarged the pokeball in my hand. "He can't get near you. I can though." Val cocked her head.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, meet Keitasu." I said, clicking the latch on the back of the pokeball, permanently releasing the pokemon inside. Keitasu emerged, fangs bared and single eye locked on Val. Val began to draw fire. "I see a single ember emerge from your mouth, Keitasu will rip your throat out." She stopped. "Much better. Keit, got anything you'd like to say?" He nodded.

"We were friendly with you, all of you." Keit said, "We gave you food, we said we would never attack you, all we wanted was to be left alone. If what had happened had been an accident, we could have maybe understood. But no. You did it on purpose! You let the pokemon you supposedly protect act like your little toys, doing what you wanted them too without them knowing it. You killed our young" He licked his lips, "And now you have to die Val."

"No!" Val shouted, backing up as close to the flames as she could. "I-I can't die, you can't kill me, this valley needs me, I'm important, I matter, without me they will die, it was an accident and I never meant for it to happen, you can't kill me, if you kill me my own group will kill you—"

"Shut up!" I snapped. "We're not going to kill you here. We do that, you might end up a martyr Val, can't let that happen. No, you're going to leave your cave, and this valley. You will talk to no one. You will not return. You will run anywhere you want, but you will not ask anyone here to help you." Val looked at me.

"You want me to leave my home, never come back, and just run?"

"That's right."

"…What do I get in return?" Even now Val's main concern is Val.

"The best thing you could want." I said. "A head start. You have ten seconds to except this very nice offer. Tick-tock tick" Val ran, slamming into me and Keitasu and knocking us over, vaulting around the corner and up towards the entrance. "tock. I guess she liked my deal." I looked down at Keitasu. "These guys will be stronger without Val around." He nodded.

"If the pokemon in this valley need anything, they may come to me and my pack. We do not blame them, just their leader. Who I must now be following. You are much different then I expected, and I hope you have good travels. Good-bye Ms. Duncan." With that Keitasu bolted off after Val. I nodded.

"Good-bye Keitasu."

* * *

"So we were asleep the whole time?" Michael asked. "We slept through a war?"

"Well essentially." I said. "Don't worry about it, it's fine. I wish I could have slept through it."

"I slept through Gabriel evolving! Through you getting another pokemon!"

"Yeah that sucked." I said. "If you want to catch him next time, train him! Make him evolve! Spend actual time with him!"

"Every time I try he bites at me." Michael said.

"Well you better get used to gator bites." I said. It was night, and we were back on the path. None of us were tired, none would sleep tonight. It was just one of those days. The moon was above us, high in the sky. The night was quiet. Almost…

"Nine!" A yelp cut through the air, coming from the forest, causing us to jerk to a stop.

"What was that?"

"A scream?"

"Sounded like a Ninetales." Suddenly a new noise rang out, a howl.

"Doooooooooommmm!" A Houndoom howl. The end of a hunt.

"I hope you got what you wanted Keit." I mumbled, before we continued on down the path.


	62. Michael is Gabriel's Trainer

**AN:** Sorry about that, it's been a long few weeks, dealing with illness, getting back to school, and writing a blog (yes this is a plug, it's my homepage which you can get on my profile, should you care.). Still, I bring you a new chapter.

**LXII: Michael Is Gabriel's Trainer**

"A fifth Pokemon." Not Milotic repeated to herself, as she looked down on my Earth from Infinity. "She is training pokemon, she is strengthening herself mentally, the Duncan girl needs to be halted. Temporarily at least. She is becoming brave."

"Who cares?" Mew asked. "Bravery can make her rash."

"Fear inspires paranoia. That is what I need in this group for my plain with the wraith." Not Milotic smiled. "That moron Grek is doing what I asked. My Seventh Order has returned to ther home base, all but one. This one. Look." On the surface they could see Moslow walking through the forest, from the opposite direction Angela and Michael were walking. He was trembling.

"What are you going to do with him?" Mew asked. "He's a nutball, and this is coming from the craziest person I know. Me!"

"The Mismagius in his brain allows him to enter the minds of others without my assistance. In addition, the Mismagius allows him to manipulate emotions and…memories."

"What possibly could you promise to someone that crazy to get them to do what you want?" Mew asked. Not Milotic smiled.

"Their death."

* * *

"You want me to be your translator?" Charlotte asked. "Why not Angela or Virgil?"

"Angela said my idea was stupid." Michael said. "Virgil said he does what Angela wants. What I want is to have a conversation."  
"With a Croconaw?"

"Well, yes." Michael sighed. "Gabriel evolved and I didn't notice until Angela pointed it out. Hell, the only thing I've even done with him is named him! I mean, since I've stopped being a trainer, I don't really have a connection with any new pokemon! Not like I did before."

"And you want a connection?" Charlotte asked. "Why?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"I agree, I would not. However, I do understand money. I understand that very well and if you want a translator I want to be paid." Michael cocked his eye-brow. A bemused expression came over him.

"Paid? You're kidding me, I'm the one who brought you with us! If it weren't for me, you would be in New Bark town without a job." He smiled. "Surely you can do this for me for free."

"The human in me says yes." Charlotte said. "The Objectavist in me says no. I'm going to listen to the latter. We can decide on a rate of payment later."

"…You're not kidding."

"Not in the slightest."

It was two days after we had left Val to her fate, and we had just set up camp. Now normally I would have agreed to translate Gabriel for Michael, I was somewhat sympathetic to him being the only one in our group being unable to understand pokemon. I was in a bad mood though today due to Nemuri refusing to come out of his ball, and Anna deciding to spend the last night in my tent when I was really horny. So I'd told him I wasn't willing to help. Right now I was lying on the ground, looking up at the sky, Anna beside me.

"Gabriel saved me." Anna said.

"That he did."

"I've been rather nasty to him before, I only now started being friendly. I screamed though and he ran to me without a second thought. Is that normal?"

"I dunno, maybe. I'm not fond of Gabriel, he looks at you like you're a walking fuck bucket."

"I need to talk to him more." Anna said. "I think that me and him could be really good friends then."

"Do what you want."

"Angela? Why is one hand down your pants?"

"Anna, shut up and turn away for a minute." Michael and Charlotte walked over to Gabriel, who was asleep on a large rock. His right leg kicked in the air rapidly. They sat down and Michael started rubbing him gently.

"Gabriel? Wake up." Gabriel mumbled something. Charlotte sighed and flicked Gabriel between the eyes. Gabriel screamed, jumped to life, and water-gunned both of them.

"Wha? What the fuck are you two doing? I was having a good dream!"

"I'm not translating that." Charlotte said. "You can figure it out on your own."

"Yeah I kind of figured it out without you." Michael quipped. "Gabriel I…boy I'm not good at this, I am uh how uh how do you see me? As a trainer?" Gabriel looked at him, clearly confused by all of this.

"What did I do? Am I being punished for something?" Charlotte explained quickly.

"No, you're not being punished." Michael said. "I'm your trainer though and I-I haven't really done much of the trainer thing. In fact, the only thing I've done for you is carry you while we walk too a different city because you're asleep. We've never actually done any training since I'm not doing the gym challenge. I still want to train you though, and actually grow close to you. You're my pokemon." Gabriel sighed.

"Sure sounds like I'm being punished." Gabriel mumbled. "Alright, I don't like you very much, nor dislike you, you barely have any impact on my life. You are there, you give me food I guess. You're a good guy…I think. I dunno, I don't really care about you."

"What's he say?" Michael asked. "Is it something pleasant?"

"Yes Michael, it was a pleasant rant." Charlotte said, voice full of snark. "I'm raising my rate."

"You haven't told me what that rate is."

"No I haven't. Funny huh." Charlotte gave him the full rant, and Michael pondered it.

"You're right." Michael said. "I haven't had any impact on your life, and I am sorry for that. The thing is, I'm not like any of the other human's in this group."

"How so?" Gabriel asked. Michael looked at Charlotte, then the Croconaw, then back at Charlotte.

"Did he just ask me how so?" Michael asked. "I can't talk to Pokemon, I've never met a legendary, and no one is out to kill me, that's how so. I don't know what you're saying when you say it, hell I have a translator here with me!"

"An expensive translator." Charlotte said.

"Shut it." Michael snapped. He returned his attention to Gabriel. "I'm not able to connect with you like Angela can to Anna, or Charlotte could to Quitzel if she wanted too."

"Hey!"

"I can't do that like they can, and I know you and I are never going to be as close as Angela is too Anna, because we can't be." Michael said. "I still want to try. I'd like to train you, make you stronger, maybe strong enough to evolve, if you'll let me." Gabriel paused, and turned to me and Anna.

"Can you help my level be close to someone else's? To…her level?" Michael looked at where Gabriel was looking.

"Why Anna?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why Anna?" Michael asked. "Simple question, you want Anna for a mate, rather obviously want Anna for a mate. She's a grass-type, that seems like it would be a bad match up." Gabriel smiled.

"I must admit, it was my fetish that first turned me towards the green beauty of Anna. I-I have a love for grass-types, they are an exquisite beauty."

"I didn't think pokemon could have a fetish." Charlotte said. "I mean, is it like me and" Michael and Gabriel both turned to her. "…And never mind, my sex life is not the issue here."

"…Back to Anna." Gabriel said. "I wanted her since I saw her beautiful green scales. She has charm though, she has innocence, she doesn't hate me for showing my dick."

"I don't think she knows what that is." Michael said.

"I've explain, wanted to give demonstrations." Gabriel said. "With her though, I've wanted to do more with her then…" I'm not going to say what Gabriel said my dear listener, you'll thank me later. Gabriel continued for a few minutes to explain his perverted fantasies.

Michael's eyes about bulged out of their sockets. Charlotte's jaw dropped so wide she could have swallowed a melon. Gabriel looked at the two.

"What?"

"How-how-how, one mind how can?" Charlotte babbled for a minute more, but regained her composure.

"I'm amazed you were able to translate all of that." Michael said, "I'd have never thought Croconaw were that flexible."

"Now you know better." Charlotte mumbled.

"With Anna" Gabriel began "I first wanted to do all that, but now I want to do more. I want to be her mate and not just for sex!"

"That's good to know." Charlotte mumbled.

"She evolved before me though, and she's getting stronger then me." Gabriel said. "I have to be a strong mate, I've got to be at the same level as her, or higher. I…a male needs to protect their mate."

"I know." Michael said.

"You do? When do you protect Angela?"

"…I'm not getting into that." He said. "I know what you mean though, I know why it's important to you. And I can help."

"Really?"

"I'll train you, like I used to train Angel" Michael said. "It won't be easy, quick, or fun. I'll also have to train you against Rush."

"The Mudkip? Why him?"

"I only take care of the others, Rush is technically my only pokemon." Michael said, "I wouldn't feel good about forcing the others to fight. Yeah water-type against water-type sucks, but it's all we got. Plus, it'll mean you'll have to work harder, always a good thing."

"Yeah." Gabriel smiled. "Thanks Michael."

"Hey Michael?" I called out.

"Yeah?"

"You said we should stop for the night and set up camp, and you agreed to start a fire. Well you've been talking for almost an hour, and no fire. Set it up now!"

He complied, and we ate dinner in relative peace. Gabriel sat next to Anna the entire time.

* * *

Michael and I fell asleep a few hours later, but due to sharing our tent with Anna and now Gabriel, we could not engage in our nightly escapades. Still, we both felt good, and it's nice to see Michael and Gabriel getting along. Or Michael actually doing the whole trainer thing. Still, Anna and Gabriel growing closer…I do not like that. And yes, I know this story was a snoozer, I am telling you it to set up this.

Outside our campsite was growing cold and quiet, everyone in their tent or asleep outside. Despite the pokemon outside, none of them stirred as Moslow walked alone up to my tent.

"T-Thagius is it." Moslow mumbled, seeing the minds and dreams of the four of us. He identified my mind quickly.

_Let me into your mind Angela. Let me in._

Moslow felt himself pulled into my mind, not my dream but my unconscious mind. The desert of my mind with the sun down. No need for a magic tattoo, and unlike me, he didn't fall out of the sky, just appearing in my mind. Moslow breathed the dry air, shuttering slightly.

_Unlock your memories for me Angela. I need to see what you've experienced. _Moslow's two minds began to work in unison. His form matched this unison, a mix of both human and Mismagius, not one or the other.

The sand in front of him shook rapidly, before sinking and revealing a stair case. It had no frame, it was just a black hole in the ground. Moslow descended.

Deeper he went, inside of my mind, in ways I was incapable of. Moslow entered a stone chamber lined with bookshelves. Light came from everywhere, but with no apparent source.

_What do you want to hide Angela? _Moslow walked slowing through the shelves. _What do you not want to remember?_

Moslow caught something out of the corner of his eye, pivoted, and turned towards it. A small book, smaller then all the others, sat alone on a shelf. It had a padlock shutting it. Moslow picked it up.

The padlock began to shake a little, then a lot, rattling non-stop as Moslow stared at it.

_Come to me. OPEN!_

The lock snapped open, earning a smirk from Moslow. He flipped through the book quickly, not reading but absorbing.

_…Tagger. So this is your bogeyman Angela._

Moslow placed the book back, closing it. He spoke a single word.

"Fear." The small book glowed for a second. Moslow closed his eyes, focusing on severing the mental bond.

Instantly he found himself outside, back in the real world. Moslow blinked rapidly, and turned up to the moon.

_I-We must be going. Back to Goldenrod, we will be met there. And I-I will get what I want. The goddess will reward me! _Moslow felt himself tear up. _I will have my death!_

He walked off into the night. He had a ride to catch in Goldenrod.

"Well, the puppet did what I instructed." Not Milotic said with a smile. "This will pay off greatly."

"What you have done will stop the Duncan girl from beating your wraith?" Mew asked. Not Milotic smiled, then burst out laughing. "What? What did I say? Mew will not be left in the dark!" Not Milotic, still laughing, nodded.

"Alright, sorry. I just find it funny that no one, not even you can see my full plan." Not Milotic stared Mew straight in the eye. "I need the girl to defeat this wraith. I need her to get stronger, not too strong, but stronger. The little seed I had the idiot implant in her head, that will not activate until after the wraith is defeated. Not until she feels safe again. I need her to not feel safe, to always be ready to fight." Mew paused.

"Excelsior." Mew said. "That's what this is about, isn't it?"

"Correct." Not Milotic said with a smirk. "The Duncan girl has no idea that that ability resides within her. I will draw it out, and then…"

"You will take it."

"It's all so simple."


	63. Entering Ecruteak

**AN:** Wow has it been a bad few weeks. So college started up again, and I immediately was straddled with so much work I about lost my damn mind. Yet I survived, and I bring you another chapter from the dark, twisted abyss that is my mind.

**LXIII: Entering Ecruteak**

"I can't pronounce the name of this place."

"You can't pronounce Ecruteak?" Michael asked. "You're kidding right."

"Shut up!" I snapped.

"It's a city name. It's not that complicated of a name! It's not that hard to pronounce."

"It's also not that hard to tell time, and you couldn't till you were fourteen!" I retorted. Michael froze.

"…Maybe I'll just shut my mouth."

We had finally made it out of the woods, and now stood above Ecruteak…yes I can pronounce it now my dear listener. Well I exaggerated there, Michael couldn't tell time till he was twelve, not fourteen.

"Are you going to let Nemuri out?" Anna asked from beside me. "I mean, you've had him in the ball for so long…"

"I dunno, eventually." I replied. To be honest, letting Nemuri out was about the last thing I wanted to do. I mean, Nemuri didn't like me, was a coward, and was taken against his (very loud) will. It would be interesting letting him out.

We started walking down the path, towards Ecruteak. The city, from where we stood, looked…old and burned really. You could see the towers, though oddly the burned tower was easier to see.

I must tell you something, I was focused. Focused to the point I barely noticed I was walking down the hill. I was focused on Ecruteak, on my upcoming fight with Morty. What was I not focused on?

"In coming!" April screamed as she rolled out of the woods, down the hill, and directly into me. Anna managed to leap out of the way. I sadly am not a combination of raptor and juniper bush, and was not able to avoid being hit by a large breasted, easily lost girl. Also, a Vaporeon riding on her head.

"Wagh!" I was slammed off of the path, and now three of us rolled, only a short distance, into a large bush. I ended up with April's boobs on my face, and her knee on my stomach. The next voice I heard was the Vaporeon. Wade, you mother fucker.

"I knew I could find us a faster path down this mountain side. I have spent my life finding paths, I do it in my free time."

"I am so sorry sir or Madame." April said, pushing herself up. "I got, uh, lost" She finally looked at me. "Angela?"

"Hello April. If you do not get your knees out of my ribs, I will break you." April rolled off, accidentally kneeing me in the chest. "Sweet Jesus woman."

"Angela!" I looked up to see my group coming to get me. Or rather, Michael, Virgil, and Quintcel, while everyone else watched or laughed.

"Allow me to assist you up my liege." Darheel said, extending a blade.

"Dude, do not touch me, I'm fine." I pushed myself back onto my feet. My jeans were torn at the leg, and my T-shirt torn also. "Damn it, I got to buy more fucking clothes."

"Angela, do you own any clothing that isn't jeans and black t-shirts?" Michael asked.

"No. Is that a problem?"

"Just an observation." Virgil, unlike the other two, had nothing to say. Instead, he walked over to April and grabbed her by the throat.

"VIRGIL!"

"Why did you attempt to assault lady Angela?" Virgil asked. "Answer me."

"Fiend, I will stop you!" The Vaporeon April had with her looked up at Virgil. "I am a wing-chan water-gun expert! Hyaaa!" He fired an embarrassingly small stream of water at Virgil, who delivered a scissor kick to the annoying water-type. April kept clawing at Virgil's grip, but to no avail.

"Virgil let go of her! She didn't mean to knock me down!"

"Are you certain?" He asked.

"YES! Virgil shrugged, and dropped April. She immediately started coughing. "Apologize!"

"Sorry." Virgil said. April gave him a thumbs up.

* * *

"So, you don't want to be in Ecruteak?" Charlotte asked.

"No, but I'm here evidently." April said. "I don't really remember where I'm supposed to be. I don't think here." We were back to walking down the path. April was coming with us currently, still trying to remember where she was supposed to be going. While she did that, her stupid Vaporeon was busy talking.

"Greetings fellow adventures and travelers, I am Wade." He said to all of our pokemon. "You may call me the Dragon Slayer." Everyone looked at each other, and they stepped behind Wade slowly. Trish was the first one to speak.

"…The dragon slayer?" Trish asked. Wade looked back at them and nodded.,

"Cuz I'm slaying all the dragons." They took another step back, now walking a foot away from him. Darheel moved away from the group, and right behind me.

"…Okay."

"Do you want to hear a story of my exploits?" Wade asked.

"No."

"Glad you asked!"

"WE DIDN'T" Wade frowned.

"So, you don't want to hear an exciting tale of my exploits among the cannibals?" They all looked at each other.

"No, we don't." Trish said. Wade mumbled something, and turned back around. Rush rather foolishly chose to walk up to him.

"I've never met a Vaporeon before." Rush chirped.

"I have." Shut up Wade. "You look quite excited my young Mudkipian (kipian?) friend. Tell me, is being in the presence of the Dragon Slayer excite you?" Rush opened his mouth. "It might interest you to learn about the Dragon Slayer, about my strength and exploits! For instance, I was once stranded in a desperate situation, fighting for my life against a swarm of Electabuzz."

"Why were you fighting Electabuzz?" Rush asked.

"They wanted to silence the Dragon Slayer." Wade bragged. "But I showed them. Their were ten of them, all big and yellow. I was trapped in the desert of Tocantines, fighting for my life. They all came at me at once, and wham!" Wade slammed his tail against the ground, sending a cloud of dust into the faces of the others. "I used my hydro-pump to knock all twelve out at once! They coward in fear of me, it was great."

"Why were you fighting a group of Electabuzz?" Rush asked. "You know, I've never really seen a water-type use water to knock out several electric-types. Usually they just end up getting fried by doing that. Can anyone do that?"

"I have." Wade said. "It was incredible, all fourteen of them trying to kill me, but I used my raw strength and intelligence to save myself."

"I must admit your tale amazes me" Quintcel said, coming up behind them, "But Mr. Wade, how much intelligence is needed to fire water at a large yellow target?" Wade was about to respond when Rush cut him off.

"Much more then you might think." Rush said. "You have to make water, make sure to shoot it out your mouth, you've got to hit the target, and make sure your mouth is open! I forgot to open my mouth once! It did not end well."

"I was talking!" Wade said, twitching. As they argued, we finally made it down the hill, and onto pavement.

"Oh pavement, I've missed you so." I whispered. "Oh God, tonight I will drink a beer to your health."

"Ang, you said you didn't drink anymore." Michael pointed out.

"Oh shut up." I snapped. "I'm just to be glad away from the woods." And to instead be surrounded on all sides by large, wooden buildings. Yeah, all the buildings in Ecruteak? Wooden. Not only that, most of them had an unwashed look to them, and they looked really creepy.

"Question" Charlotte said, "If one of your cities most famous landmarks nearly burned to the ground in a fire, why would you build all of your buildings out of super-combustible wood?"

"Common sense was on holiday when they built this place." I said. "So April, what're you going to do?" The girl was walking to my left, her head down the entire time.

"I dunno. I'm not sure where I'm going, and I keep getting lost." Sighing, April turned to me. "I kind of don't want to go anywhere for a little while, just get a break from travel. I've been walking a lot more then I need too."

To this day I don't fully comprehend why I said what I said next. Do I like April? Yes, a lot. She was kind to me, and she always struck me as a real good person. Did I know her? No, not really. Am I prone to outbursts of sentimentality? Are you fucking kidding me? Not at all. I felt like the two of us had…something, something in common. That's why I said:

"You can stay with us while we're here in Ecruteak." April's eyes lit up.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all. Me and Michael would be fine with it, right Michael?" Michael shook his head, almost pleading with me to rescind my offer. "He's fine with it."

"Yay!" April threw her arms around me, and embraced me. "Oh thank you for this." I nodded slowly. "Angela, your body is stiff."

"I don't like to be hugged." The others came to a stop, watching me quiver in the hug. I swear I could hear Charlotte laughing. I'd need to break her jaw later.

"Sorry, didn't know." April slid off of me, and I shuttered. "Why do you not like to be hugged?"

"Don't ask." We began moving again. I let off a second involuntary shutter, thoughts of alcohol stained fingers, trying to hug me, filling my head. "So April, how many badges do you have?"

"Uh, let me see, eight." I nearly stumbled over.

"Eight? You have fucking eight? Before me!" I was so selfless when I was younger. "Then I think I know where you need to be going!"

"To the…yeah, I know." April swallowed. "I'm not going to think about that right now."

"…All right, let's get to a hotel."

* * *

"It's a beautiful city." Desiree mumbled. "I think I can really capture this." She had set up her canvas on the balcony of her, Charlotte, and Virgil's room. Yes they did have a separate room from Me, Michael, and April. Yes Charlotte refused to pay for it, so Michael had to pay for both rooms. Yes Michael did spend the evening sobbing while thinking about his empty wallet and untouched dick.

"What does the city look like?" Iggy asked from Desiree's head.

"Wood, death, and pastries." Desiree said. "I think death is tope!" Desiree looked at her bag on the ground. "Do I have any tope? Maybe ocher is death." The balcony door opened.

"I feel that I am in the wrong room." Virgil said, stepping outside behind her. Desiree barely turned to look at him. "I need to be guarding Angela."

"Why is that?" Desiree asked. "I don't think Angela likes you that much." She reached into her bag at her feet, and pulled out a large container of yellow paint. "She's not alone." Desiree mumbled, to low for Virgil to hear.

"I need to be there to guard Angela in case of intruders, or should Michael attempt to take her virginity." The yellow paint bottle fell out of Desiree's hands and splattered against the ground. Neither one of the two seemed to notice.

"You think Angela is a virgin?" Desiree asked. "You know, I've been accused of living in my own, bright melon world, and even I know that's not true!"

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked. "The daughter of Enfer is as virtuous as she was."

"What's a virgin?" Iggy asked.

"Not now joyball, who is Enfer?" Desiree asked. Virgil sighed.

"An Arcanine. Angela's mother. One of the most incredible females I have ever known."

"Really." Desiree said, reaching into her bag for a container of orange paint, "Tell me more."

* * *

"I really can't thank you enough for this." April said, "I've been having a rough couple of weeks, I think I really need too be with friends."

"I told you, it's no problem. Right Michael?" Michael was sitting on the bed on the left side of the room. He had a pillow pulled down tight across his lap, and a look of sheer loathing directed at April. The two of us were laying down on the bed on the right, with me just glad to not be walking. "What's been going on?"

"Various things, I don't really want to talk about it now." April said.

"Alright. Why do you have a Vaporeon?" I asked. "Or rather, why is it not in the pokeball?"

"Cuz I'm not battling with Wade." April replied.

"Really? Why?"

"Wade can't battle. He's got this rare genetic birth defect that left him level locked at level eight." April said. "Wade was abandoned at a pokemon center, so I took him because I wanted to have someone to talk to on the long journey."

"You do realize he can't talk back right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I shrugged.

"So, he has never once been in battle? Or against several Electabuzz? A big memorable fight that he would want to brag about?"

"I think I would look good in rhinestones." April said. I sighed.

"You probably would."

So to review, I was in a city whose name I could not pronounce, sharing a room with a friend while my boyfriend humped a pillow. I was going to be fighting Morty soon, and my newest Pokemon was locked in a ball. Oh, and I was stuck in a room with a Vaporeon who was either a liar, insane, or both.

"Let me tell you all the story about the time I survived for thirty-nine days in Tocantines with only water and crispy beans." Wade said. "It all began when I was airlifted in by a group of trained Pidgeot. I had to pull some strings for them to ferry me across…"

Please kill me.


	64. Meeting Nemuri

**AN:** Its been an awful month for me, and I was lucky to get this written now. I hope to update sooner.

**LXIV: Meeting Nemuri**

I decided to do what I had been dreading, since leaving Val and her octagon shaped valley of death. I'd left there with Nemuri, my new Abra, in a pokeball and still had yet to release him.

"I need to do this, we need to be able to work with Nemuri. I've got a gym battle." I said. Michael and me were on my bed, April was out somewhere. My head was resting on Michael's stomach, and he was stroking my hair.

"I don't really see how Nemuri is going to help you with Monty." Michael said, "Monty trains ghosts. Last time I checked, not exactly a lot Nemuri can do against them. He'll get crushed."

"Meh, he can be fodder. I don't need him to do a whole lot" I said, "Just to finish off whoever is left standing, or to get knocked out doing a lot of damage in the process. One or the other."

"And you think Nemuri won't work with you?" Michael asked.

"I took him from his home, cursed at him, imprisoned him in a small ball and refused to let him out. I think the two of us are not on the best terms." I shrugged. "I could release him and he could turn out to be grateful to me, and hell he might want to fight for me with little advantage for him, though I doubt it. Nemuri probably, heh, he probably wants to strip my skin off."

"So how are you going to stop him from doing that?" Michael asked.

"I was thinking Kira. Desiree agreed to lend her to me, Kira can suppress Nemuri's powers, stop him from fucking up my mind. It'll piss him off, but I do not care. The first time we met he tried to get inside of my head."

"I still don't think you should." Michael said, "I'm a fan of Operation: Release the Psycho. You see, you'd release Nemuri, and then his arrogant, cowardly, crazy obnoxious butt would be gone!"

"Yeah not doing that." I said. "I've always wanted an Abra, I'm not giving it up now."

"Even if the Abra hates you?"

"Meh, being hated is nothing new, you get used to it." No you don't. Believe me, you don't.

* * *

"The Abra will try to manipulate you." Kira said, "It will use things you know against you. Your ideas will be its ideas. Your dreams it knows. It will turn all of it against you. It is you own personal Satan, torturing your soul in its hell."

"Nemuri is a male." I said with a grin. "Could you maybe refer to him as…him? Not it?"

"Abra's are despicable creatures, not worthy of gender, but of status as things. Nemuri is it to me, always it." Kira said. "Espeon do not like Abra, much like they do not like us. Espeon respect the sanctity of the minds of others, Abra view minds as candy."

"Well he wont be eating my candy." I assured. "I just need you to block all of his powers. No throwing lamps and no getting inside of my mind."

"I must warn you, I will not be able to move while I am doing this. It takes a lot of focus to completely suppress another mind. As for stopping lamps though, that much I can do for you." Kira replied.

"Thanks." I enlarged his pokeball. "Everyone ready?"

"No." They replied in unison.

"Good enough." I released Nemuri on the floor. Anna, Saya, Quintcel, and Emily stood around me in a circle, watching and waiting.

Nemuri emerged with his eyes shut, looking asleep. His head turned in my direction.

"You…" The lamp behind my head began to rattle, but it didn't rise off the table. "What the?" Nemuri looked straight at it. The lamp began to glow purple, and shake, but still didn't move. "What are you doing to me!"

"They are not doing anything." Nemuri spun around to Kira right outside of the circle. "I'm doing it Abra. I would suggest you not struggle."

"I'll break your neck." Nemuri whispered.

"Try it."

"Not to interrupt this charming scene, but Nemuri" He turned back to me, "We need to talk. I figured it was important we talk, since we didn't end our last meeting on good terms."

"You stole my freedom from me." Nemuri growled at me. His eyes opened for a half a second, and closed almost immediately. "You tricked me out of my freedom, captured me in your despicable ball."

"I remember you!" Saya suddenly yelled out. "I kept trying to figure out who this 'Nemuri' was"

"We've been talking about him for a week and a half, you had no idea who we were talking about?" I asked, unable to surprises a grin.

"I didn't see how important it was to remember. Nor did I care. Still, I wondered who this 'Nemuri' was, and now I know! You were the coward who teleported away from the battle and hid in the mud the entire time!" Saya fired a water gun, hitting Nemuri between the eyes and knocking him on his back.

"Hey!" Nemuri pushed himself back up. "What the hell are you—" Saya shot him again and knocked him on his ass. Nemuri sat up again, and was shot a third time. Saya bounced herself onto his chest and began shooting him in the nose. Nemuri responded as well as he could. "GAH! Blargh glub glub!"

"I might suggest you stop her Lady Angela" Darheel said. "My human sensibilities suggest this is a bad idea to drown your own pokemon."

"Oh let Saya have her fun. Emily, you want to try?"

"Lady Angela I must insist!" I sighed.

"Buzzkill." Rolling my eyes, I pulled a still firing Saya off of Nemuri. "Saya, you probably need to stop." She looked up at me.

"You sure?"

"Well…maybe one more" Saya fired, right as Nemuri managed to get up again. This one struck him in the eye, sending him spinning backwards and landing him again on his ass. "Sorry about that Nemuri, Saya fancies herself a warrior—"

"I am a warrior." Saya snapped.

"And she is not fond of cowardice. I will try to keep her calm, and with any luck, no other harm shall befall you." Nemuri spit at me. "I'll ignore that also."

"Screw you! Let me go!"

"Not going to happen. Part of the deal, I help out your valley, you become mine."

"You didn't help our valley!" Nemuri shrieked. "It burned! Did you not notice the fire? Plus, the deal was you kill the Houndoom. Did you kill them? No, you pacified them, you negotiated with them, you lost the battle."

"I stopped the killing." I said, "Kind of assumed that was the goal. Because of me, no one died." Well, not counting Val.

"I got to fight Houndoom." Emily chirped, "I melted the horns off of one of them. Did you know that electricity is attracted to big points sticking out of the tops of peoples heads?"

"Yeah, you did awesome" Saya said, "Then again so did I. Five Houndoom in two minutes, that's"

"Weren't we talking about me?" Nemuri asked. "I don't care how 'awesome' you all were, you didn't keep your deal, you don't deserve me. I'm beyond you, beyond being a trained pokemon again. I'm Nemuri, part Abra, part amazing!" Dear God, he actually said that. Kira turned too me.

"We're not going to get anywhere with this one." She said, "Want me to break his neck?"

"No thanks." I smiled at Nemuri. "Part amazing. How exactly?"

"You would like to know wouldn't you." Nemuri said. "I am in control of every situation, my power is so strong I have not needed to evolve yet. I am, in a word, perfection in an Abra body." Not to mention humble.

"Why aren't you a Kadabra?" I asked. Nemuri laughed.

"I choose not to be." He replied.

"Bullshit. Someone with your…talent, doesn't choose not to evolve. I mean, who among us here would not evolve if they could?"

"Well actually Lady Angela" Darheel said, "I have no interest in evolving. I do not want to be a Steel-type anything, I do not believe becoming a Scizor would allow me to properly serve you."

"Darheel, as your lady I am ordering you to change your opinion!"

"Yes Lady Angela. May I change it back once we are finished?"

"We'll talk about that later." I turned back to Nemuri. "See, everyone here wants to evolve. I know you do too. I bet you can't." He tried to laugh it off, but I kept talking, "You're strong for an Abra, or I know you think you are. Someone as smart as you" I suppressed a cringe saying that, "Should know the advantages of evolving, yet you haven't. I doubt you've been trained well or long enough to evolve. I bet your last trainer was a chuckle head. I also bet that your attempts to level up on your own failed miserably, and that you talk a lot but have little to back it up. I mean hell, Kira is currently blocking you, and she spent nearly a decade inside of a pokeball!" Nemuri frowned.

"What exactly are you trying to achieve here?"

"Just trying to make you feel like part of the group." I replied. Nemuri laughed.

"Part of the group? You have me sitting in your little circle of judgement, and you want me to feel like part of the group? I feel like part of nothing! If you want me to feel like part of the group, why are you trying to get everyone here to guilt me into being part of it?" I opened my mouth, but found I had nothing to say.

Sadly, Nemuri had a good point. As far as trust building exercises go, putting someone in a circle and telling them just how much they suck, not a very effective one.

"Alright, in that case, why not ask stuff about us?"

"Why the hell would I do that?" Nemuri asked. I shrugged.

"You're going to be traveling with us, willingly or unwillingly. Might as well make it a pleasant trip." Nemuri appeared to think it over. Or rather, he made that one Abra face that he can make.

"Fine." He spun around to Anna. "You, Grovyle. You I can sense…sort of" Nemuri growled at Kira, "That you have been with the girl"

"Angela" Anna said.

"The girl for the longest, of those here. Tell me, does she mistreat you to your face?"

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, what?" I asked.

"You don't know?" Nemuri asked, grinning. "Why, I only saw the inside of her head briefly and I know! I got inside of Angela's mind, back in my valley, and I know what she thinks of you. I know how weak she thinks you are, how pitiful. Not worth her time, you were worth more back in your ball. Maybe you could spend another year in there."

"I don't think any such thing!" Anna looked at me, tears filling her eyes. "Anna, you can't possibly believe him!"

"Yeah, Angela would never think that." Saya chirped. Nemuri turned to her.

"Really? She thinks the same thing about you. Saya the mighty, Saya the bold, Saya who is suuuuch a great warrior and couldn't fight off a Butterfree. You know, have you considered that you're actually a useless little coward whose scared of lightning? Angela has." Now Saya was look at me, disgust on her face.

"Saya, he's full of crap."

"I must agree Ms. Saya." Darheel said. "Ignore the foul mouthed Abra."

"Well, you would say that." Nemuri said. "You're 'Lady' Angela's little bitch, oh and a prostitute is more of a 'lady' then she is. You don't get it fool, you really don't. The 'lady' you serve, views you as a joke. She mocks you, and your stupid belief that you're human."

"Shut up Nemuri!" I yelled. Nemuri turned away from him, too Emily. Emily quivered a little.

"So Emily, has she told you about your brother?"

That was all Nemuri got out before both of my hands were around his neck. I grabbed him, pulling him up, and started strangling him right there. No I wasn't sure what I wanted to accomplish, other then I wanted him to shut up. Nemuri was smiling, as only an Abra can.

"I think I struck a nerve." He wheezed.

"Oh you struck a lot more then that, you piece of shit." I mumbled. Nemuri just smiled. "I didn't think any of those things."

"Really? Cuz, I can read your mind, and I say you did." Nemuri replied, "They can't. Who is more likely to be honest?"

"You shit head."

"Angela!"

I started to squeeze tighter.

"ANGELA!" Kira screamed. I turned, to see all of my pokemon looking up at me, horrified. Even Kira looked stunned by this.

"Uh…um" I unclipped Nemuri's pokeball, and withdrew him. "Sorry."

* * *

"So that went badly." Michael said to me.

"To say the fucking least." I mumbled. It was now evening, Michael and I were back where we had been in the morning. Darheel, Anna, Saya, and Emily were on the floor, backs turned to me. Emily in particular had been upset, and right now none of them wanted to talk to me. "Nemuri is a liar, but it doesn't matter. He's right about one thing, he's read my mind. They can't. How can they trust me to say he's a liar?"

"Well, because he is." Michael replied. I sighed.

"Not entirely."

"Hmm?" I rolled off of Michael's stomach and sat up.

"You know how the best lie is a partial truth?"

"Yes. I get the feeling this isn't going to end well."

"You feel right." I said. "Nemuri was partially true. I do think that Darheel is a dope for calling me Lady. I did think Saya was cowardly around lightning. I didn't think she was a coward though!

"The real problem I have is with what he said to Emily. Emily thinks I know nothing about her brother. Nemuri implied I did, and he was telling the truth! Nemuri said stupid lies, but he knew they would hurt everyone. He wanted to hurt them."

"Why?"

"Because I hurt him. I put him in a pokeball, I told him that he's now going to fight for me. Nemuri has an ego, shocking I know, and capturing him bruised it. Now, he wants me bruised. The 'circle of judgement' as he called it was a bad idea, and it just made things worse. I admit, I fucked up there. Still, Nemuri had no right to do that. So things are worse then when we started, and I've still got Nemuri in his ball."

"So what're you going to do?" I answered in the most honest way I could.

"Try not to strangle Nemuri, and try to get my group of five to be a group."


	65. Servants Of The Legendaries

**LXV: Servants Of The Legendaries**

"I continue to fail to make progress with Desiree" Virgil said, "I believe I may be doing something wrong. Are you certain that bringing her the heads of three Seviper would not earn me her praise?"

"Believe me dude, I'm quite certain." Charlotte said.

"I find it rather said Lady Charlotte" Quintcel said from beside her, "That Sir Virgil fails to give up this pointless pursuit. It is a fools errand, yet he continues."

"It's a fools errand to keep talking like that, doesn't stop you." Charlotte replied.

Charlotte needed to purchase more pokeballs and other supplies, and needed to send off a pokemon she had captured. Virgil had chosen to follow, and Quintcel refused to leave her. She'd purchased all she needed, but for some reason, Charlotte didn't quite feel like returning to the hotel. No, not yet.

"I will continue my pursuit" Virgil said, "I am convinced Desiree will be a good companion, and a good breeder." Charlotte paused.

"You do realize that she would breed human children, correct?"

"…I will continue to ponder this."

"You do that." Charlotte said. The three of them were wandering the streets of Ecruteak, Charlotte walking slightly ahead of the others. Despite looking ahead, she had no idea where she was going. The buildings were thinning out, as the three had ended up on the Northern side of Ecruteak.

"Lady Charlotte, may I ask you something?" Quintcel asked.

"You already are. Go ahead I guess." Down the street, and then to the right. The trio could see the Tin tower now to the east.

"Have you ever considered capturing another pokemon simply for companionship and not for use in monetary transactions?" Straight ahead, closer to where the Brass Tower remained.

"Not really. I don't see the point." Charlotte replied. "I don't need more companionship, I can't get any friggin' alone time no matter how much I want it. God I need a smoke."

"I only ask, not suggesting that it is you who needs a companion…" Quintcel said. They turned onto the street with the Burned Tower at the end. The shadow of the Tower fell across them due to the setting sun.

"Why are we at this tower?" Virgil asked.

"What?" Charlotte looked up at the burned tower. "Oh, shit. How the hell did I get here?" She turned to Virgil. "Why exactly did you ask me? Also, why the heck did you follow me? You blathered about inane crap for the last two hours. That's more words then you've ever said to me." Virgil looked down for a second, then back up.

"As a Zangoose, it is important for me to know about the Legendaries. For pokemon, be they as they should be, or imprisoned in human bodies like me, the Legendaries represent something of great importance. I have even been privileged to meet Suicune, thanks to you."

"Yes, and?" Charlotte asked.

"Suicune I believe will return to meet you again. When that happens, I will be at your side."

"You're following me just so you can meet Suicune again?" Charlotte asked with a grin.

"Yes…and I have grown to enjoy your company." Virgil said. "I do not give compliments lightly, you are an interesting individual."

"Thanks" Charlotte said, "You're not. But I'm still glad to have you around." She turned away, smirking. "If someone tries to rob me, you'll make a great bullet shield." Charlotte mumbled. She started to walk towards the tower.

"Why are you going into there Lady Charlotte?" Quintcel asked.

"Dunno. I feel drawn here." Charlotte said, voice not changing an octave. "I feel…" She quit talking and kept walking, trance like and quiet. Virgil and Quintcel followed.

The Burned Tower was home to Zubat and a few other pokemon, but none that were bothered by the appearance of a girl walking like a zombie, followed by a red head and a Heracross. The structure smelled of ash, and both Virgil and Quintcel felt uncomfortable, questioning the structural integrity of a burned out wooden shell.

"Charlotte, I do not think we need to be here." Virgil said, as Charlotte climbed over a knocked over beam. Charlotte didn't respond, didn't turn around.

"Lady Charlotte, I must agree, I think—" A Pidgey landed on a rafter, which turned out to be loose. A piece of wood fell in front of Charlotte, followed by a long stream of ash. The piece of wood missed Charlotte, the ash did not. "…I think you are drawn here."

"I suspect I know by who." Virgil said. Quintcel looked at him, as the two climbed over the beam. "There are several forces and creatures that can put people into trances, or draw them to places. A legendary would be among the least likely to do so, unless the person involved had a relationship with a legendary."

Charlotte walked slowly down the stair case, into the basement. The gloomy tower instantly became darker, with the only light now coming from the gaps in the wood and burned holes in the floor. The light revealed a lumpy stone floor, large piles of ash and wood everywhere. At the far end of the room were three platforms, with a tall one on top. Sitting on the second platform, in front of it, was a glowing Suicune.

"Greetings Charlotte."

"Wha?" Charlotte suddenly snapped to attention. She looked at her hands, then back at Virgil and Quintcel. "Guys? Where are we? How'd we get here?"

"You were in a trance." Virgil said, "you were pulled here."

"Pulled? By who?" Charlotte turned around. "GAH!"

"Sorry about that. I needed you to come to me Charlotte, and I needed you some place private." Suicune shrugged. "I assumed smashing into your hotel room would not be appreciated."

"You assume correct." Charlotte said. She turned back to Virgil and Quintcel. "Guys, let's just…Virgil why are you kneeling?"

"In the presence of a god, you kneel." Virgil said from the ground. "You should kneel. Kneel Charlotte."

"I'm not going to kneel!"

"You need to kneel." Charlotte just rolled her eyes.

"You're an idiot." She said, flipping back to Suicune. "Alright, why the hell am I here? Is it time for my second test? If so, I'm not in the mood, I haven't slept, and I have this horrible condition called 'not wanting to work for Suicune'."

"I will defend you Lady Charlotte" Quintcel said, moving in front of her, "This time I can—" Suicune fired an ice beam, freezing Quintcel up to his neck. "I appear to be frozen again Lady Charlotte." Charlotte just sighed.

"I did not need to do that Charlotte." Suicune said, "I just found it fun. No, I'm not here for my next test, not yet. I'm here to deliver you a warning for things yet to come, both for you, and that Duncan girl."

"Angela? Why her? Why not have her here?"

"I have my reasons." Suicune said. "First, I must ask you a question. Charlotte, do you know what a Wraith is?" Charlotte paused, and shook her head. "Do you know what a Titan is?"

"No. Well sort of, Angela's used that term a lot, I don't really know 'what' they are, just that they've got a lot of power, and they won't mind their own damn business. Her words, not mine." Suicune smiled, as best as a dog thing with a mouth made of water can.

"I suppose I agree with that, yes Titan's are caretakers of the multiverse, and of Reborns. They have rules that Legendaries do not, such as not directly interfering with the lives of linear beings. Mind you, they still interfere with their lives, something I find rather hypocritical. Titan's have the power to warp reality, create new time lines, travel between worlds, they are as powerful as you can be."

"Okay. The point of all of this is?" Charlotte sat down in front of the Legendary.

"What happens you think, when a Titan decides they don't want to work to make lives better and multiple Earths from vibrating into each other?" Charlotte shrugged. "Well, they decide they'd rather rule over Earths, then serve those who live on them. Rule them as gods."

"This, oddly this does not surprise me. Alright, Titan's can turn evil."

"Then they are no longer considered Titans." Suicune said. "They are called Fallen, and they are considered monsters. They are monsters I suppose, I don't often interact with them. The problem is they're hard to find, hard to find, and hard to stop. That actually is the question, how do you stop a non-linear being who can move through dimensions?"

"I dunno, how?"

"You trap them in time." Suicune said with a smirk. "To trap a Fallen, the Titan's craft a bottle made out of Time itself, taken from Creation. In Creation, Time cools to a liquid. A bottle made of Time can freeze a Titan in a moment, in a place and a time on a single Earth in the multiverse. Those are the rules, they have to be trapped on an Earth, since Earth's have linear time and limited space. It's the only way to keep them trapped, and once they're trapped, they can't escape without help." Charlotte's brow furrowed.

"I don't get it, what do you mean by help?"

"Here's where it gets confusing. A Fallen trapped in a Time bottle is no longer a Fallen. Now they are trapped in linear time and limited space, forever. They are now a Wraith, unable to leave the Time Bottle. A Wraith has all the power of a Titan, but they can't use it without help. A host, a human host."

"They'd stick a Titan inside a persons body?" Charlotte asked. "Why not a pokemon?"

"Pokemon aren't as complex as people are, which is their greatest defense. People's complexity cause them to have many fears, many simple fears that can be exploited. The way for a Wraith to possess a mind is to completely break down all resistance, until the person is broken and ready to be taken. At that moment, a Wraith can exit the bottle and enter the persons mind, taking complete control. The power of a Titan, in the body of a person, ready to kill, ready to control."

"Alright, I think I understand." Charlotte said, looking up at Suicune. "Why hasn't this happened before though? I mean, if all powerful beings are trapped in bottles, why aren't more people trying to use them? I've never heard of someone suddenly gaining the power to warp reality."

"That's because there is only one Wraith on each Earth in the multiverse," Suicune said, "Any more would be to dangerous. The trapped Wraith is given to a Legendary, and it is the job of the Legendary to hide it, preferably with the assistance of a small group of humans. The Wraith of this world, was given to Ho-Oh."

"…Towers." Charlotte mumbled, as the realization hit. "That's why they built these towers isn't it? Not just to house Ho-Oh and Lugia!"

"Well the two did live in these towers, but they lived in them to protect the bottle." Suicune said. "I myself was also brought to live in this tower, this very room, another layer of protection. Their was one problem though."

"You're all Legendaries?"

"Their we go. All Legendaries, grouped together in one location. It was only a short time before humans tried their hand at catching us. Before war raged over catching us, and the Tower was burned to the ground. Ho-Oh and Lugia left, as did I and my siblings, as it was simply to dangerous to stay."

"It was to dangerous to leave!" Charlotte shrieked. "Dear God, I once only caught pokemon for money. Is it to late to go back to that?"

"Yes it is, and yes it was dangerous to leave. We didn't really have any choice." Suicune said, laughing. "How fun, the people who tried to capture me were capture specialists like you, and yet I've chosen a capture specialist to be my servant."

"Well I guess it's your what now?" Suicune smiled.

"All Legendaries have some humans chosen to be their servants, those who can act as the agents of the Legendaries if they are needed. You've been chosen."

"She want's it." Virgil said from the back.

"No I don't" Charlotte said, stumbling back and falling on her ass. "I don't want to serve you!"

"You will. You'll say no, but eventually you'll give in." Suicune said, "But that's for later, we still have the problem of the Wraith."

"The problem of the Wraith can wait! I don't want to be your servant! I didn't want to do your first test! I don't want anymore, much less throw my life away serving you! I want to be left alone!"

"We can talk about that later." Suicune said. "You must tell the Duncan girl this, as the Titan's are unwilling to give her all of the information she needs. The agents of the Milotic have the Wraith, the Wraith of this world. The Time bottles are invisible, and cause rapid time movement just by their touch, but some how they've still retrieved it."

"…Alright, who are the agents of the Milotic, and what do they have to do with me?" Suicune sighed.

"I am uncertain of this. I can see them, or rather, figures. In yellow robes, without faces, the Milotic creature is masking their identities from me. They could be standing right in front of me, and I would never see them. All I know is that they seek one of you for a host."

Charlotte felt like she'd been hit with a block of ice. "One of us?"

"That is correct, and they will try to take you soon. From that, the host of the Wraith will try to remove the Duncan girls soul."

"You mean kill her?"

"No. I mean remove her soul." Suicune said. "There is something inside of her, more powerful then even she knows. The Titan's do not want her to know, and I do not care what they want. I do not want a Wraith unleashed upon the world. I like this world, I am not willing to let the Titan's sacrifice it to win a war."

"…Alright, and me telling her this will accomplish what?"

"The Titan's will have to be honest with her. That honesty alone may save a life, something inconsequential to the Titan's. I am a Legendary though, and for me all life is precious, human or pokemon." Suicune drew closer to Charlotte. "There is a war coming between the Titan's. The Legendaries will be expected to take a side, but we don't have to. One of ours is fighting to have us safe no matter who wins, and I am fighting to keep this world safe. Tell the Duncan girl the Titan's don't care, they'll sacrifice her, or the entire world, to beat the Milotic. Tell her."

"I will." Charlotte said, turning around to Quintcel and Virgil. Quintcel had almost clawed his way out of the ice. "We can do that, we can prepare for what's coming, right?"

"I will give my life to protect Angela." Virgil said.

"And I to protect you." Quintcel said. Charlotte smiled.

"Alright, but what about—" Charlotte turned back to face Suicune, but Suicune had vanished.

* * *

"I did exactly as you said, told her everything." Suicune said, "Word for word."

"Good, then Angela won't trust the Titan's anymore." Mew replied. "You did try to stay as vague as possible?"

"You know it."

"Excellent."

"You know both Arceus and Giratina are throwing their support behind the Titan's, correct?"

"Let them do what they want, their both fools anyway. My way is the only way to guarantee we survive the coming conflict."

"We will survive, won't we?" Mew nodded.

"We will."


	66. War In The Heavens

**AN: **Trying to get my chapters up faster again, maybe eventually back up to once a week. The fact that my work load has finally lessened helps.

**LXVI: War In The Heavens**

"You need to be training." Michael said. I shrugged. "I mean, you're going to be battling Morty, right?" I nodded. "Can you please look at me when I'm talking?" Sighing, I pushed myself up.

"You know" I said, wiping my bottom lip, "I'm not doing this for my benefit, I'm doing it for yours. Try and be grateful, will ya?"

"I am grateful" Michael said, blushing ruby red. "I'm just wondering why you're doing this, if you don't have any interest?" I sighed, and rolled onto my back, beside Michael. Why does he always have to be so serious?

"If I were you, I wouldn't harbor any delusions of me finishing."

"...Well maybe you're being to hasty, we can, uh, keep talking later."

"Too late, not in the mood!" Michael looked like he wanted to scream.

"Damn it."

"I do have interest in fighting Morty, just not quite yet." I said. "I'm still tired from the waaaay to long journey we had, from being in a fire, and from having a friend whose having a nervous breakdown crashing with us!"

"Speaking of April" Michael said, zipping up, "Do you think it's wise for us to engage in our…activities, while she's asleep on the bed beside us?" Currently April's form was a curled up ball under a pile of sheets, with one arm sticking out, grasping Wade the Vaporeon.

"We've never let them being in the room bother us" I said, pointing at my pokemon and the Worthless Rejects who were asleep in the corner, "Why should April bother us? We're both quiet, and as long as I don't bite" Michael visibly grimaced, "We won't make enough noise to be heard."

"…I should use logic in this situation, but I agree with everything you just said." Michael said. "Instead I'm going to change the conversation, because I think this is something you need to wonder about. Do you still want to be a pokemon trainer?"

"Michael, I spent an hour ruining my relationship with four of my pokemon, just to get one of them to agree to work with the rest of them. What do you think?"

"I think you still like being a trainer to a certain extent." Michael replied. "I also think your heart isn't in it, like it used to be. You're not training as much, you haven't devised any new strategies, you were going to make a second book and you never did. I mean, usually you're ready to fight the gym leader on the first day in a city. This time though…why Angela?"

I shrugged. What else could I do, I didn't know what he was getting at. Michael was wrong, I still loved being a trainer, I was certain I did. I did. I did.

"Alright, since you don't know, can I ask you what you'd do if you weren't a trainer?" Michael smiled, as I lay my head down on his stomach. He began to stroke my hair. "As I seem to recall, you wanted to join the police."

"I respect them." I replied. "You gotta respect what you do. I mean, they make the world safer, try to put criminals away and bring order to chaos." Michael frowned.

"That's an odd way to put it."

"It's true." I said. Michael began to stroke my hair again. As we lay there, the door to my room opened. "Oh April, you—"

"I'm not April." Charlotte said.

"Charlotte? Oh yeah, April's on the bed…is Quintcel frozen in ice?"

"Only a little." Quintcel said, his shaken and still partially frozen form being carried by Charlotte. Virgil was closely behind them.

"Angela, I need you to follow me onto the balcony." Charlotte said. "Just you. I got a lot to tell you."

* * *

Ecruteak City is a beautiful city when the sun is setting, and it hits the wooden buildings. The golden light completely hides the grime, and all you can see are the outlines of the buildings and the purple mountains. Our balcony faced the sun, and reflected off of the sliding glass doors, into my eyes. I barely noticed, hell I barely cared.

"The Titans…I mean, I don't trust them," I said, "Or not all of them, I trust one of them."

"You shouldn't trust any of them." Charlotte said. "They're willing to kill someone in the group. Suicune told me all of it, they'll release the Wraith"

"No, someone will release it. And frankly, I don't believe the Titans would let that happen." I said, trying not to shout. "I don't care what Suicune said, for all you know, Suicune is manipulating you! You don't know what Suicune wants, Legendaries don't just contact people out of the goodness of their hearts!"

"You don't know that." Charlotte said. "I believe Suicune does care about us, and that's why it warned me. You need to talk to the Titans and ask them."

"You know what, fine! I'll do that." I said. "Not Meowth, time to show the fuck up! I need your all-powerful ass right now!"

"Is this the correct way to summon a demi-god?" Charlotte asked. "Is profanity really the most respectful form of communication?"

"Hell yeah. Not Meowth, get your ass over here!" Charlotte looked like she was about to say something, but her mouth froze half-open. It was at that moment that my balcony bucked and I was thrown over the railing…

* * *

…and landed in Eternity. On my ass. Of course. Not Meowth sat in front of me, a half-smile on his face.

"You really shouldn't give me orders." Not Meowth said. "Girlfriend of my terrestrial brother or not, I do not like being given orders."

"I wasn't giving you orders." I said. "I was just yelling profanities and demanding that you do what I say, when I say for you too. That's not the same thing at all! Also, I need you to bring Charlotte, I need to prove she's wrong."

"That's rather petty, isn't it?"

"A bit." Well, really I needed the Titans to think that I was that petty. This is something you should learn my dear listener, make sure everyone underestimates you. If you want to see if you can trust someone, make sure they think you're simple and petty. They'll be more likely to share information, even if they don't realize it. Plus, if you're wrong to mistrust someone, they'll never know you distrusted them.

"You know I can't do that Angela." Not Meowth said. "I would if I could."

"I think you can." I replied. "The first time we met, you said to me that you can't reveal yourself to someone who doesn't know about you."

"Yes, and?"

"Charlotte knows. I told her. Suicune told her. She knows you're real." Not Meowth's smile grew bigger.

"I'm impressed you remembered that, and thought that up." He laughed. "I'd suggest you move to the left."

"…Alright." I rolled to the left, right as a screaming Charlotte slammed boob-first into the hard void of Eternity.

"Owe! Owe owe owe GAH!" Charlotte leapt back as she saw she was standing on nothing. Rock-hard nothing, but still nothing. She started grabbing at the nothing, then herself, then her hat. "Christ, I had the chance to go to school. Or go to work. Or be a friggin' shoe saleswoman, at least then I wouldn't have this happening to me every five seconds!"

"Yeah, well then your life would be boring." I said, "Would you really want your life to be boring?"

"Yes! Yes I want it boring, I want it to be beige, and I want every day to be the same." Charlotte whined. "Where am I and why did you bring me here?"  
"I brought you to see the Titan's." I said, "Not Meowth is here, talk to him. Also, I already knew about the evil group in yellow. Their name? Their called the Tabernacle of the Sun. The oh so not trustworthy Titans told me all of this." Charlotte pulled her hat off and turned to me.

"Then why am I here if you already know all of this?"

_Because the Titans need to think I'm on their side._

"Because I didn't know everything Suicune told you, and I don't believe it."

"…Alright." Charlotte cautiously, turning to Not Meowth. "Oh Christ, your real, everything Angela said about you. You're real."

"You still think Meowth are evil?"

"I never thought they were" Charlotte said, "Desiree did. I just wanted to be left alone, which evidently is not happening."

"Nope."

"Marvelous. Which one of us are you sacrificing to the wraith?"

"It's nice to see you'll give me a chance to give my explanation." Not Meowth said. "Angela, as you might not know a Wraith is—"

"Don't worry." I said. "Charlotte told me all I need to know. Go ahead and give your explanation to her." Not Meowth nodded.

"Alright. As far as I know, I was not planning to sacrifice any of you to the Wraith of your planet. Doing so would unleash an all-powerful being on your Earth, and would probably result in the deaths of all living creatures, down to the last piece of plant life. The Earth would be rendered a lifeless husk, with a demon ruling over the ruins. What reason could I have to want that?"

_Now that was a lot of circle talk._

"I don't know!" Charlotte said, "I trust Suicune though, you want to stick the Wraith thing into one of us for some reason. Maybe to get Angela to kill it or something, I dunno."

"Hey, don't drag me into this." I said.

"You're already in it!" Charlotte shouted. "The Wraith wants to pull your soul out for…I don't know why, the Legendaries say you have something, some power or something that even you don't know about!"

"You know," I said turning to Not Meowth, "I'm a bit curious about that myself. Why me?" Not Meowth tried to smile, and failed too.

"I can assure you there is a reason for your importance in this affair. I'm also afraid I can not tell you."

"…Why not?"

"There are reasons." Not Meowth said.

"And they are?" Not Meowth said nothing. "What are the reasons?"

"If I tell you, then in doing so you could change the order of events yet to happen. I'm sorry, I can not allow that to happen."

"…What?"

"It is in the best interests of the Titans, the Legendaries" Not Meowth turned to Charlotte, "And the human race for the coming events to come to an end we have determined. For that end to come about, we must leave the linear world as uncontaminated as possible, I'm sorry."

Yeah, he was telling the truth. That doesn't matter though.

"You can't tell me! That's bullshit!" I screamed. "There is no possible 'contamination', tell me! I don't want my friends to die!"

"I notice you didn't confirm or deny the Wraith thing." Charlotte said. "You said you didn't want the Wraith being released, you said it's a bad thing. You didn't confirm or deny anything though." Not Meowth shot her a withering glance.

"I do not want your friends to die either."

"Then tell us what this Tabernacle group is doing! Which one of us are they going to stick the Wraith in?" Not Meowth said nothing. "God damn it, I'm ordering you to tell me."

"I can't!" Not Meowth whined, "I can not tell you. I wish I could, but you'll change things if you do."

"Then let me change them! We deserve to live!" I felt tears sting my eyes, you got to fake cry. Appeal to anything human still in them. "Please, tell me."

"Your faking the tears." Not Meowth said. "Your anger is real though, I can feel it."

"Wow, bet you could only know that if you're all-powerful." Charlotte said, rolling her eyes. Not Meowth ignored her.

"You probably are aware of this thanks to Suicune." Not Meowth said. "There is a war coming, a war in the heavens. The Titans against the Titans, against the Fallen. We know they're gathering together. Usually we can monitor the Fallen, but not now, now they've all begun to vanish. Either they've thrown up their extremities and just given up, or they're preparing to stage a coup."

"What would that achieve?"

"Overthrowing the Supreme Titan would achieve…I can't tell you that." Not Meowth said. "I can confirm that it would be bad for the multiverse. Should the Milotic creature want to, she could enslave every living creature in eternity. She could rewrite time however she wanted too. She would be all-powerful."

"…And the Wraith helps her achieve this how?" Not Meowth smiled again. This time though, he seemed to be holding back sorrow, maybe even anger.

"I'm sorry Angela, I can't tell you. And I'm afraid, it's time for you to go."

"What?" A wall of nothing slammed into me and Charlotte, knocking us into the sky…

* * *

…and back onto the balcony. This time I'd landed on my knees, and my head was spinning about a mile a minute.

"I'm never going to get fucking used to that." I mumbled. "Oh, and guess what Charlotte?" Charlotte groaned. "No fucking time has passed."

"Why'd you say the yellow-robed guys were the Tabernacle of the Sun?"

"Because it is." I said, trying to stand up. I stumbled back to the ground. "Okay, can't do that yes. Ugh, I didn't tell you before because I didn't see it as relevant. I don't know who they are."

"Yes you do!" Charlotte protested, trying to stand up, and failing. "It's one of the largest religious groups in Johto, possibly the largest. Desiree is a member!"

"Desiree? Why didn't she tell me."

"She does. All the friggin' time."

"Oh. Sorry, whenever she starts talking about her superstition, I just tune her out." Finally made it to my legs. "Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick. I so fucking hate Not Meowth."

"So do you believe me now?" Charlotte asked. I nodded.

"To a certain extent. I believe they're willing to sacrifice one of us to the Wraith, no idea why. I'm certain they know one of us may be about to die…"

"And they'll do nothing about it."

"Yeah." I turned to look at the city. The sun was setting beyond the mountains, and the sky was a clash of orange and purple. Charlotte came over beside me, looking up at the sky. "We're going to have to be ready for this."

"Are you going to trust the Titans?"

"I never fully did. I definetly don't now."

"Do you know when it'll happen, or what we'll do?" I sighed.

"Sadly, no." I turned to her, forcing a grin. "Believe me, I'll figure out something."


	67. Out With April

**AN:** This chapter is dedicated to Lightning-Alchemist-Rini. Happy Birthday Rini.

**LXVII: Out With April**

My non-conversation with Not Meowth told me a lot, most important being that Charlotte and Suicune were right. I couldn't trust the Titans at all. Even if they did give me my screwy mind-entering power, I couldn't trust them. Something I reflected on as I didn't sleep that evening.

_What fucking time is it?_

Answer, late. The clock looked like a big red blur. I was to tired to see straight, while at the same time too tired to sleep. I hate being like that.

_Fucking sweating. Why am I sweating?_

The room was stifling me. My head ached, it felt like their was a weight inside of my skull. I couldn't think, not without thinking about the Titans. Or about the Wraith.

The only light was coming from the sliding doors, from the half moon up in the sky. The room looked cold and blue in the light, almost frightening.

I closed my eyes.

_Wraiths, Titans, death everywhere_

My eyes shot open.

"Goddamn it."

"Can't sleep?" I turned to the left, to see Michael looking at me, smiling, unable to move due to a very large Gabriel asleep on his stomach. "I can't either. A bit hard to breathe with several pounds of Croconaw on your chest."

"I don't doubt it" I said with a smile, "I've got Anna on my legs. At least her bones are hollow. Emily and Saya bracing against me aren't exactly comfortable either."

"That's not why you're awake though, is it?" Michael asked. I sighed.

"Nope. It's not." I wanted to turn to Michael, except Anna's talons were dug into my legs, and Emily and Saya were bracing my left. "Michael…what did you think about at night? When I was still an Umbreon?" He frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you ever wonder if maybe things weren't going to get better?" I tried not to stammer as my mouth went dry. "Like, you were going to be miserable forever, or their was just more misery waiting around the corner?" Michael said nothing at first. Finally he responded.

"Yeah, sometimes. I just…I couldn't keep thinking like that. I'd have ended up being miserable forever. So, I focused all my energy on training, well, you." Michael sighed. "It's what kept me sane."

"I can see that." I whispered. "I need something like that."

"You'll find it."

"I dunno."

"You will."

"I wish I shared your confidence." I said. "I need to do something tomorrow, something to get my mind off of this.

* * *

I decided to spend time with April the next day. She was barely able to get out of bed, much less travel, and if I could help her get over that, then I needed to help.

"The sun is so bright." April mumbled, "Was it always this bright before?"

"Yeah, the sun is like that." I replied. "Come on." I slowly lead a stumbling, possibly hung-over April out of the lobby of our hotel. As I was about to discover, dealing with someone who is going through a nervous breakdown is a surreal, dream like experience. The mind of said person is unable to hang on to any one subject, and their emotions run from hot to hotter to fucking crazy.

I brought Anna with me, hanging on my shoulder (something she really needs to stop doing with those fucking talons), and Wade April's Vaporeon, was walking beside April. Right now we were just walking through Ecruteak, no real destination, just walking.

"Have I ever told everyone the story of how I once rode to the moon on the back of a Salamance?" Wade asked. "I was young, freshly hatched, born in a log cabin! The moon was high in the sky above me, and it inspired me. It was a dream! And a pie!"

"Why do we have to listen to the ranting of this pompous moron?" Anna asked me.

"Because nothing we do could ever possibly shut him up." I whispered to Anna.

"What're you doing?" I turned to April. "Were you talking to your Grovyle? Cuz, that's kind of crazy."

"You once got lost in a hallway in a hotel." I said. "A hallway with one stairwell entrance and exit, and you want to accuse me of acting crazy?"

"…Point taken." I smiled.

"So you have eight badges already? I've got three, hell I really need to get my fourth, and you have eight? How did you get eight?" April smiled now.

"I'm good with pokemon. I may suck at finding directions, and I'll never be able to dance, but I'm good with pokemon. I mean, really good. I just get them, you know? I like pokemon, they don't talk about you behind your back, they don't use you to get ahead, they just want to be there with you!"

_Best not to tell her they do talk about you behind your back, _I thought. "You've had a problem with people not being there with you?" April paused, then nodded.

"It's more then a problem." April said. "If you have a skill, any skill, people want to use you. They want to exploit you towards their own ends. That's what they do, they always do, and do they care that you've spent hours of your time helping them train their pokemon and neglecting your own? No!" I stopped, and pulled her to a halt.

"…What?"

"I don't want to be neglected." Anna said.

"Don't worry." I whispered, "You won't be." April gave me a look, then shook her head.

"I agreed to help some people, people who I considered to be friends, train their pokemon. When I say help, I mean, I did it for them." April laughed, and we started walking again. "When I was done, they all left to go on their journeys, one I wasn't allowed to do. My parents wanted me to be older when I left for my pokemon journey. Well, all of my friends got to leave first, won many battles, and did not bother to talk to me while on their journeys. Not a phone call, a letter, nada." April's fist clenched, and she punched the wall of a bank as we walked by. "I want ice cream."

* * *

Never mind that it was getting cold, and unlike Hoenn, cold is actually cold in Johto. Never mind that I hate ice cream. Never mind that I hate any dish that melts, since that means I've got to rush to eat it. We all went out and got ice cream.

"Why don't they have any with lemons?" April asked, eating a cone of some berry-flavored monstrosity. "I like lemons! I'm allowed to like lemons! I don't have to eat cranberries."

"…You are truly a frightening creature." I said with a smile. I got strawberry, probably the kind I hated the least. Strawberries wont fucking melt.

"I don't see what the problem is." Anna said, holding a cone with vanilla and a cinnamon stick in it. "I like this."

"You like the ice cream, or the stick."

"Both. I'd prefer a real stick, with a mint leaf." Anna shrugged. "Still, I like it." Almost all of her face was coated in white ice cream, but she looked cute so I didn't care.

"I know why I didn't get any." Wade said. "They were afraid I'd defeat ice cream. I've defeated it before you know. And I invented ice cream!"

"You didn't get any because you don't have thumbs" Anna said, "Even I know that." Wade just laughed at this, because he's a dumbass.

"You like lemons?" I asked. April nodded. "I do not. Way too sour. Fruit should be sweet."

"Who says?"

"I says! Fruit should be sweet, lemons aren't. The only way I can even stand them is in lemonade. Also, what's wrong with cranberries? I love them!"

"There is something wrong with you then." April replied.

"Screw you." We kept on walking. It was unusually cold, over cast, and the wind whistled between the buildings. If it's cold, wind does not help. If it's cold and windy, eating ice cream really does not help. "Sadly, you and I really do thing a lot alike." April turned to me.

"How so?" I bit into a strawberry, and winced in pain. Damn sore teeth.

"Well, let's be honest. Neither one of us gives a flying fuck weasel what the rest of the world thinks of us, correct?"

"…Not the terminology I would have chosen, but correct none the less."

"Both of us ended up lonely and miserable, at least for a spell." I said. "Both of us love pokemon. Hell, I used to really love training…that changed."

"Why is that?" April asked. I shrugged.

"No idea. Just…over time, it's gotten less important. I mean, I still like it, just not as much. You know?" April nodded. "You still haven't answered a very important question though. Why exactly, if you have eight badges, are you here?" April laughed.

"The eight friggin' badges. I hate them. Oh how I hate them. You know why?" Before I could respond, April kept talking. "It means that, it's over! My journey, the journey I have loved to take is now over. I don't want it to be over!"

The sidewalk was broken where we walked, causing me to stumble. I kept my balance, and lost what was left of my ice cream. Anna also lost hers. In the side of my head.

"Oh crap, you alright?" April asked. I sighed, and nodded. Anna pulled the cinnamon stick out of my hair, and started biting on it.

"This is, sadly, not that big a deal." I said. "I'll just take a shower. At least now I have a shower."  
"Still tastes good." Anna informed me from my shoulder, licking my hair. That's good to know. I smiled, I couldn't help it.

"You've had a lot of trouble in your own life I take it?" April asked.

"No idea how much." I said. "I've dealt with it all, and keep on dealing with it. Every problem I have in life, I take it head on, throwing logic and common sense to the wind. This almost always works out without any long term problems." No my dear listener, I did not mention my suicide. Or interfering in peoples lives. Or agreeing to get the magic mind-reading tattoo from the Titan's. Or agreeing to protect the burning valley. Stop listing examples!

"I don't see how it always works out." April said. "Why exactly do you always rush head-first into things?"

"No idea." I said with a shrug. "Any problem I face, I deal with. Hell, any problem my friends have, I deal with." The sun came out from behind the clouds, way to friggin' bright and still not freaking hot.

"That feels good." Anna said, relaxing her talons. "I always do better in the sun." Ironic, as an Umbreon, I'd always done better at night. Then again, since the universe runs on a system of irony, it's fitting that my first Pokemon is the exact opposite.

"Why do you do that?" April asked. "Someone else's problem is their business." I nodded.

"Oh I know, I don't mean to get involve. If people ask though, I have to help, and I want to help people. I mean, I spend most of my time hating the human race, and yet I want to help people better themselves if I can. People or pokemon. Especially pokemon."

"How do you help them?" April asked.

"Way to long of a story for me to get into. Way to many stories really." I said. "I'll tell them to someone later, when I have a lot of free time. It doesn't matter really, if I can help people, I need too. Speaking of which, we keep getting off topic. Why are you here if you have eight badges?"

"It's not by accident we keep getting off of topic." April said. "Yeah, I have eight badges, and after this…then what? Do I win the Pokemon League Championship? Do I got to a different region? What?"

"I'd say go to a different region…"

"That's all it is!" April was screaming now, causing the people on the street to look at us. "I'm just April the Trainer! I have no identity besides April the trainer! Maybe I want to be more then a trainer! I dunno, I don't know anything!"

"Like when to shut up!" I said, pulling her off to the side of the street, avoiding stepping on Wade as I did. "You don't know if you want to be a trainer?" April nodded.

"Yeah, but more then that. I don't know who I am! Who is April?" I managed to direct April to a bench, allowing the two of us to sit down.

"…Alright, from your rambling, I've come to the conclusion that April is April." I said. "Who cares who you are?"

"I care! My plan was to be a trainer, and I did!" April was beginning to hyperventilate, "Except now, what now? What do you do after that? What do you do when your plan in life is risky, and you possibly can't succeed? You think about how you'll have to live in a box under an overpass and beg for change!"

"Your nightmares are oddly specific." I said. "You sound afraid of the future." My heart rate increased as I said that. The future is not a subject I liked to discuss.

"I am." April said. "It's so unknown!"

"Yeah, that's why it's the future, it hasn't happened yet. You want what has happened, look to the past." April nodded.

"I know that, really I do. I just can't deal with it, not right now I can not deal with the future. I just can't!" Now she looked like she was about to cry, and the last thing I needed was for her to cause a scene.

"Get a hold of yourself." I snapped. "Come on, back to the hotel room. You can keep staying with me until you've gotten your head on straight, alright?" April nodded. With that, we began the long walk back.

Yeah April was in a bit of a crisis. What I didn't want to admit was that, April brought up several good points. What was I going to do when I quit being a trainer? Or when I completely lost interest in it? What does anyone do when dealing with the future. How do you plan for things you don't know.

I thought about this, as I headed back to the room, and after I got back. I've thought about it for years since, and sadly, I have no answers. You just try hard, and avoid evil, reality-warping Milotic.


	68. Danegeld

**AN: **Three weeks in a row, awesome.

**LXVIII: Danegeld**

How do you deal with a pokemon who wont listen to you? What measures do you take to deal with them? Why was I thinking of this now of all times?

"Can't sleep?" Michael asked. Once again the middle of the night, and once again I couldn't sleep. Despite the fact that it was near freezing outside, I was sweating and had kicked all of the covers off.

"Nope. It's rather irritating." I said, trying not to snap. My clothes felt to heavy on me, and the air felt to stiff. "Why is this room so stuffy?"

"It's not. You're just not sleeping, and are too awake to sleep." Michael said. At least this time Anna and Gabriel were both asleep on the floor. "Anyway I can help?"

"No." There is an organization holding a demon and planning on using it as a super weapon, a bunch of Not Pokemon lying through their teeth about their plans for me, a friend/rival having a melt down on the bed beside me, and a pokemon I can't get to fight for me. I've got a lot of problems, and talking to you won't help. "I wish talking could help, but it can't right now."

I shifted on my side, so I was facing Michael. His eyes reflected in the darkness, and I could see the outline of his smile. He stroked my arm slowly. "I dunno, Michael what would you do if you had a pokemon you couldn't get to work with you?"

"What do you mean?" Michael's smile vanished. "I never really had that problem. I kind of assumed your pokemon had to fight with you. I guess it makes sense though, nothing forces them to fight aside from the balls, so if one wanted not to fight, well I guess they could. This is about Nemuri."

"I've mentioned him already?"

"A few times. Alright a few dozen, and then their was the intervention you held in order to…I don't really know."

"Oh. I forgot." Michael frowned.

"Charlotte's also been stressed lately. I asked her about it, she mumbled something and wandered off. It doesn't take a detective to figure out whatever has been bothering you is a lot bigger then some problems with Nemuri. I'm also certain it has to do with Charlotte. Now, you can tell me what it is, or you can keep it bottled up and not sleep. What do you think?"

"I-I think" Michael's eyes lit up, "I think that the best solution, is, uh"

"You can tell me anything." I smiled.

"The best solution I think is to bribe Nemuri into fighting for me." That was clearly not what he expected.

"Alright that's a strategy. I suppose. Are you sure that's all you want to talk about? Nothing else I can help with?" When trying to avoid facing your problems and admitting things are a lot worse then they are, lie.

"I'm fine. I just, it's to hot and stuff, that's all. Tomorrow, after I've taken care of Nemuri, I'll feel a lot better."

* * *

Once again I had borrowed Kira, though Desiree was not pleased since she was planning on painting Kira. Meh, I had actual problems, Desiree had no talent. Not that I'd actually tell that to her face, she'd hit me with her shoes.

This time I was on the roof of the hotel, which I really wasn't allowed to be up on, but I'm not supposed to do a lot of things. Kira was with me, sitting on the ledge of the building, mentally preparing herself. No other pokemon this time, I wanted Nemuri one on one.

"Are you ready?" I asked. Kira paused, her head glowed purple, and nodded.

"I can surprises his teleportation. Release Nemuri."

"Going to. Thanks Kira, I owe you." Kira nodded, and I tossed out Nemuri's ball. It opened, and in a flash of white, my jerkass Abra was free.

Nemuri emerged looking up. He sat up, and I noticed his head was also glowing purple.

"I still can't teleport." Nemuri said, with a hint of amusement. "Very good girl. You're consistent in your annoyance, I'll give you that."

"And you're consistent in your arrogance." I said. "Sometimes consistency is nice. This isn't one of them." Nemuri smirked, as only an Abra can.

"We can trade jabs with each other all day long Angela, if you want." Nemuri seemed almost excited by the prospect, on the edge of a giggle. He looked up at the sun. It was a biting cold day, and the sky was white-blue with the icy sun directly above us. In the light, Nemuri's lighter fur seemed to glow. "What exactly is it that you want? I will not fight for you Angela."

"Don't say that." I sat down in front of Nemuri, only to realize that it had rained recently. I moved my soaking ass out of the puddle an onto some dry roof. Nemuri just laughed.

"You are so incompetent, that you couldn't even sit down without screwing it up. You want to train me! Dry your ass!" God I wanted to slap him. In fact, I pulled my hand back to do just that, when something strange happened.

_You want to one day be a cop. You want to have a life outside of being a trainer. Do you think they want a slap happy loon working for them?_

My hand dropped. I didn't even make a snarky comment. I bit my tongue. How exactly do normal people do that? Your mother will never tell you this, so I will. Choosing not to say something snarky, or not to fight back, is about the hardest thing you can do. Especially for a type A personality such as myself.

"Alright, so I've had a few bad moments in front of you." I began.

"A few? You've been a series of bad moments from beginning to end." Nemuri was laughing now. I smirked, and then began laughing myself.

"Okay, so sitting down in water wasn't my best idea, and the circle of judgment probably was a bad one. But I do one to try and work this out." The laughter died. "I want to work with you."

"Yeah, that's never going to happen. You can keep me locked in that ball forever, but I wonder how Anna would feel." Nemuri's arrogance was palpable as he continued, "She was trapped for fourteen months. Anna doesn't want to think bad things about you, but I know she isn't happy with you for leaving me trapped in a ball."

"Anna would never—

"Anna would never say anything to you." Nemuri said. "She wont even admit it, but on some level, she feels pain. Ask Kira, she's felt it too."

"Leave me out of this Abra!" Kira snapped. A little to quickly. Kira was hiding the truth.

If you want to tell an effective lie, never be quick about responding, and never act shocked. Both are good tells.

"You have no reason to believe me." Nemuri said, shrugging. "I have no reason to lie. You can make up your mind in your own time." I once again bit my tongue, choosing not to yell. Or punt Nemuri to the moon.

"Why do you always do that?" I asked.

"Do what?" He shot Kira a look for some reason, even though Kira was disgusted by his very presence.

"I don't get it, you always go for the personal attacks. The jugular every time." I frowned. "I don't like it. You don't have to go out of your way to make me miserable, or hurt everyone trying to talk to you." Nemuri shrugged.

"You don't like me, then release me. No one is forcing you to keep me. I'd suggest that you release me, that way both of us get what we want. I get my freedom, you get to march on impudently to oblivion."

"I think I know why you try to make people miserable." I said, completely ignoring his soliloquy. "You have no ability."

"…Excuse me?"

"You heard me. No ability. As in, no ability to fight." Nemuri's fur bristled. "You know teleport, and hell, you can read minds! That must count for something, I'm sure it does somewhere. I'm also certain that you know you can't fight, and you talk big in order to fool pokemon into believing you're a bad ass. That way they don't fight you. If they do, well you have teleport to fall back on."

Now Nemuri had gone silent, that smirk finally wiped off his face. No, now he was curious, possibly afraid. I knew his (not so) big secret. He laughed nervously, before responding.

"What do you want girl? If I could teleport right now, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"You can't though." I said. "You have no attacks other then teleport, and as long as Kira can surprises that, you'll remain my Abra. You can't fight me, and if I asked Anna or even Emily to attack you, they'd wipe the floor with you. You know it, and I know it. I'm willing to help you though."

"How?" No snark this time, no referring to me as girl.

"I still want to train you." I said. "I'll help you learn attacks, and hell, maybe one day you'll be an Alakazam. If you work with me, when I'm done with the Johto League, I'll release you."

"Release me?" That got Nemuri's attention. He looked down at the roof, puzzling over what I said. "You would promise me my freedom?"

"Yep. Two evolutions, actual attacks, more abilities aside from teleport, and all you have to do is willingly work with me. I know how difficult that is for you."

"You have no idea." Nemuri snapped. Nice to see Nemuri's bottomless charm hadn't gone away. "Your Kira can surprises my teleportation, but should I learn other abilities, she would not be able to surprises those, correct?" I turned to Kira, who sighed.

"He is right. One psychic-type trying to surprises just one ability of another is difficult enough. I doubt I could surprises another ability or attack."

"Well in that case, I'd have to hope for the best." I said. "You could attack me if you wanted too, and if you did, I'd lock you back up in your ball so fast that your head would spin."

"I would expect as much." Nemuri laughed. "So I want to escape, and you're offering me the very tools needed for me to do it? Where is the down side?"

"You won't escape." He giggled.

"I think that I will." Nemuri's left eye cracked open, if only for a second. An Abra's eyes are purple. I wonder how many people know that? "One confusion blast, you'll drop the ball and I'll teleport away."

"No you won't." I smirked now, and I got to admit, as immature as it is to say, damn it felt good. "There are pokemon who can escape from their balls, I'm certain one who claims to be as intelligent as you could have figured out a way to escape a long time ago. So either you can't escape, which means I could just lock you up inside of your ball and leave you to rot, or you can escape but are scared to go. Teleporting only works so well, but you got to sleep eventually. You got to eat. And with your attitude, you can't afford to do either out in the wild."

"…If I agreed to let you train me, you'd give me my freedom?" Nemuri swallowed. "No strings attached, after a certain point, I can just leave?"

"You can just leave. Head off to where ever you want, go serve another psychotic Ninetales. I don't care. All I'm asking for is your assistance."

"It's more then my assistance!" Nemuri's voice began to creep higher. "You're asking for me to fight my fellow pokemon. Think of what could happen with me fighting. I could get hurt!"

Oh Nemuri, if I gave into my anger, you'd be hurt in more ways then you know.

"Yes you could get hurt. That could happen every time you wake up in the morning. Life is full of possibly getting hurt. You got to suck it up and deal with it." Which isn't easy for a coward like Nemuri.

"I just wanted to be left alone." Nemuri snapped. "Why do you not get that? I don't care about getting stronger, I just want my peace and privacy."

"That's not going to happen. I helped your stupid valley with a problem that you caused, I got to take you. That was the deal you made. You shouldn't have been surprised when I expected the deal to be honored."

I was shivering now. The wind was worse on the roof then on the ground, and it cut through my skin into my bones. Their wasn't a single cloud in the sky though, like back in Hoenn. There is no winter in Hoenn, God I missed that.

"What if I tell you no?" Nemuri cocked his head. "What if I tell you to take your stupid deal, and shove it up your ass?"

"You go back in the ball. You don't come out."

"That's a good point, I must admit. I…I don't know what to say."

"Then let me say something." I turned to Kira. "Go ahead and stop surprising his teleport." Kira stumbled. "Kira!"

"I'm fine!" She stumbled on the edge of the roof, she was most certainly not fine! "It's just…you want me to do that? I'm not going to give him back his teleport, he'll use it! You can't trust an Abra."

"If I can't, then Nemuri can't trust me." I said. "Why would he expect me to keep my word, if I don't even trust him not to teleport away?" Growling, Kira looked me in the eyes.

"Angela, I think this is—

"I don't care. I've heard it before, you don't trust Abra because you just don't, and no Espeon does, and your whole cause comes across as racism. Do as I said now." Kira mumbled something, possibly profanity, and the purple aura around her head vanished.

"I can think clearly." Nemuri whispered, as the aura vanished around his head. "Oh God, it feels so good." He looked up at me. "You trust me enough not to teleport away?"

"…No" Have to be honest. "What I am though is willing to try and trust you enough. Do you trust me?" Nemuri paused.

"Nope. But I want my freedom, so I will work with you." I smiled.

"I guess this means we have a deal."

"Don't expect me to suddenly enjoy being in your presence."

"Wouldn't dream of it." So yes, I got Nemuri to work for me, bringing much joy to, well, someone. That night I lay in bed, confident that with Nemuri no longer a factor, all the stress in my life would dissipate, and I would sleep well.

Wrong.


	69. No Fear I

**AN:** A new year, so I'm trying to keep this story going consistently. I hope you enjoy this two-parter.

**LXIX: No Fear I**

"You ready for today?"

"Nope. But then again, I never am." I mumbled in response. Sweet lord was I tired.

Sunlight was streaming through the partially open curtains, and it burned into my insomniac head. Again I had barely slept, and what little sleep I had left me feeling more tired, if that makes any sense. No, I spent all night thinking of the Wraith, my sister, my upcoming gym battle, my inability to sleep and how stuffy the room was.

Right now I was hunched over the side of the bed, trying not to puke. Anna was sitting beside me, eyes wide, shaking slightly.

"Today? A gym battle? Again?" Now Anna was quivering quicker. "Do we have to? The last gym battle needed with my-my legs, my legs broken."

"I know kiddo', it's not getting any easier." I said, stroking her head leaf. "I know you're scared—"

"But I'm getting stronger." Anna said. "When I get strong enough, I won't have to be scared." I smiled. "I've changed a lot you know. In the months we've traveled together."

"You'll change more by the time we're done."

"I hope so."

"You will. I know it seems like you wont, but it will happen." Anna just nodded. "I'm more worried about the battle today."

"What gym are we battling in?" Anna asked.

"Morty. Ghost-type." Anna fell onto her butt. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah. Ghost-types, I do not like them. Actually, I really don't like them or the dark, and they are the dark."

"What?"

"I just don't like them. They remind me of that ball I was in." Anna's eyes were full of fear as she continued. "That world in the ball wasn't real. What do you know about the inside of pokeballs?"

"Nothing. I was an Umbreon for over a year, but I avoided seeing the inside of a ball, thank goodness. I know that the inside of a ball is supposed to create an artificial environment."

"And it does. Trees with no scent, water with no taste." Anna said. "It was fake. As time went on, things would go black, until I was alone. In the dark emptiness." She quickly continued, "That's what Ghost-types are to me. You can't touch them, and they can fade away.

"Don't worry, they can't hurt you." I said without a smile. Anna frowned.

"You don't sound confident."

"It's not that, it's…I dunno."

"Not looking foreword to the match?" Anna asked. I shook my head. God almighty, everything blurred when my head moved. Sleep would be so good right now, which is why it wasn't coming probably.

"Not really. It seems kind of pointless." I shrugged. "Another gym battle, in a series of endless gym battles. I wonder sometimes why—

"I'm ready to kick some ass!" Saya trumpeted, shooting herself onto the bed. "I want them all to tremble and yell out 'Warrior!' when I shoot by!" Oh please, they could yell 'Look out, lightning!' and send Saya scuttling away.

"That would not send me scuttling away." Saya snapped. Shit, did I say that out loud? "Yes you did." I need more sleep, I can't tell when I'm thinking or talking. "Speaking of, Anna's evolved, shouldn't I have evolved by now?"

"You're a Horsea." I said. "Anna will be a Sceptile before you're a Seadra. Horsea don't evolve easily. Didn't your family teach you this?"

"I was raised by Seel." Saya replied. "I kept waiting to become a Dewgong."

"How'd that work out?" Anna asked.

"Not well." Saya said. "They told me one day that I wasn't a Seel, and I had to stop trying to gore people with my non-existent horn. I was only embarrassing myself. I challenged Sera to a head-butt contest to prove I totally was a Seel. Don't remember much after that." Of course not.

So, my Horsea ended up seriously injuring herself trying to beat a Seel in a head-butt contest, giving herself a concussion. Sadly, that's normal around here.

* * *

Like all buildings in Ecruteak city, Morty's gym was tall, old, and wooden. Given the lack of rain in Ecruteak, and the fact that Ho-Oh once resided here, it's rather amazing that Morty's gym (and the city) hadn't burned to the ground. Michael was rubbing my shoulders, as our group stood outside of the heavy wood double-doors.

"Why are Gengar carved into the wood?" Charlotte asked. Two Gengar faces were carved into the Ebony doors, with red-stone inlayed for the eyes. They seemed to follow you as you approached, grinning, waiting.

"I do not like Gengar." Virgil said. "They are unscrupulous creatures who always look at you, and who look for reasons to harm innocent Zangoose!" The last part came out in a rush. I smirked, and turned around towards Virgil.

"Virgil, are you scared of Gengar?"

"Pre-Preposterous." Virgil stammered. "I am a Zangoose, I am scared of nothing but I will wait outside! Uh, to protect Ms. Desiree, who is quite scared."

"I wonder if they'd let me make an etching of this door." Desiree mumbled, stroking Iggy and examining the carvings. "Did someone say I was scared of something? I wasn't listening." Virgil began to stammer out a reply, but I wasn't having it.

"Shut up, and come on you big coward." I pulled open the door to the reception area, revealing a big black nothing! "What the hell?"

Their was almost no light in the reception area, just one ball of light in the distance. Everything else was almost completely black, with just vague outlines of where things were in the gym's reception area. Outside it was mid-day, in here it was dusk. I could see the outlines of heavy curtains, blocking the windows and the light. Virgil turned to leave, so I grabbed his arm and dragged him in. The heavy doors slammed shut shortly after, leaving us in here.

"Hello, are you here to face Morty?" The receptionist outline asked. I slowly maneuvered over to the ball of light, which on closer examination was an oil lamp, hanging from a metal poll. The only light in the entire room. I faced the receptionist, I think. I couldn't really tell.

"Uh yeah, I'm hear to face Morty and what in the hell is up with the lighting in this place?"

"Morty doesn't believe in traditional lighting. Claims it ruins the mood. Anyway, observers go through the Ghastly door on the left, challengers through the Haunter door on the right."

A quick good-bye to the others, and I was through the Haunter door. Only Anna was out with me, clinging to my back, trembling.

"I like the light more, sunlight more. Dark is to dark, no sunlight." Dark is dark, thanks Anna, where would I be without your observations?

_God not sleeping makes me a bitch._

Morty's gym was lit only by three candelabras hanging across the ceiling, and two hanging torches, one beside where Morty stood and one beside where I would be standing. From those I could see…well nothing really. I could see the outline of wooden rafters, and the floor (no markings on it). I could see Morty, dressed in purple and black, reading a book and not looking up.

"Are you my latest visitor?" He flipped his book shut with a sigh. "You know, I could be continuing my search for Ho-Oh and Suicune right now. I hope you know what I'm giving up by continuing this foolish gym-leader activity. Years of my life are ticking away, standing on this mat." Yeesh, what a drama queen.

"Uh, I'm Angela Duncan of…your Morty." Morty laughed.

"Yes I am, I Morty am Morty. Why does this surprise you?"

"No, it doesn't surprise me, I just remember something about you. I read you're clairvoyant" I said, "You can locate things far away, or tell where things came from. That true?" Morty nodded. "Then, use your abilities to tell me where I'm from."

"That's easy, you're from" Morty frowned, "From somewhere, ugh. What am I seeing? What am I not seeing?"

"Something wrong?" Morty shook his head.

"Enough talk, send out your first pokemon now!" I nodded.

"Alright, Darheel you're up first." With a flick of the wrist, Darheel's ball opened and he emerged on the field, somehow making coming out of a ball dignified.

"Ghastly, you first." A Ghastly emerged on the field, and immediately I noticed something. I could barely see the damn thing. Even less so then other pokemon, since it was a Ghost-type, I couldn't see it in the low light. "Ghastly lick!"

"Darheel, dodge that. Use Fury Cutter." Now the thing that sucks about ghost-types is they're immune to normal-type moves. That may sound fine, but the majority of moves used by every type of pokemon, are Normal-type. Hell, the majority of moves Scyther learn naturally are Normal-type, I got around that by using as many Bug-type TM's I could on Darheel. Mind you, they wouldn't help me much in this fight, but that's why Darheel was out first. Still, I instinctively wanted to yell out Slash, and had to bite my tongue to stop.

Yes my dear listener, I know about Foresight. I also know most pokemon don't have it, including all of mine.

Since Darheel refused to use his blades, he attempted to cut Ghastly with his right foot. Ghastly's tongue was already out, only to be slashed by a green blur, leaving it bleeding. Ghastly laughed, and vanished.

"You didn't tell your Ghastly to vanish." I shouted. "You're pokemon are only supposed to do moves you've told them to do." Morty smirked.

"I don't need to tell any of my pokemon to go invisible, they do it on their own. It's part of being a ghost." Lucky bastard. Also, how does a ghost bleed?

"Don't make me go out there." Anna whispered. I ignored her.

Ghastly reappeared, and Darheel landed another fury kick, and Ghastly vanished again. So essentially I was using ineffective moves against an enemy who was mocking me. This was off to a good start.

"Curse." Morty command. Ghastly reappeared, allowing Darheel another kick-slash between the eyes. The now glowing eyes. Ghastly's eyes flashed bright purple, only for a second. Darheel slashed a fourth time, and stumbled back onto his ass.

"I am injured Lady Angela." Darheel shouted to me. "I can not locate the injury though."

"It's curse, it just makes you slower, don't worry." Or it would if Ghastly weren't a Ghost-type. In truth, curse would kill half of Ghastly's health and slowly drain Darheel's. Best not to let him know that until it happened.

Ghastly before had only been mildly injured, but thanks to Curse was now near death. It reappeared, panting but grinning. It was bleeding, and again I must ask how a Ghost-type can bleed?

"You can see through Ghastly" Anna whispered, "You shouldn't be able to see through it please leave me out of the fight!"

"You'll have to, you're up next."

"Why!"

"They're Ghost-Poison, you're the only one weak to poison. Sorry." Anna said nothing, just latching herself tighter onto my back. "I don't get what the big deal is, you've never mentioned being afraid of Ghost-type before."

"We've never run into them before." True, but I didn't care.

Darheel rushed at Ghastly, jumped and kick-slashed twice, using X-cutter. Ghastly was hit by the green X, and fell to the ground without a noise. Instead of laying their unconscious, Ghastly faded in and out until Morty recalled it into a ball.

"Very good trainer whose name I have forgotten." Morty said. "You showed skill with that move that you did with your pokemon." It was at this moment that I noticed that the asshole's head was still buried in his damn book.

"Hey! We're still battling here!" Morty sighed and closed his book.

"Must we? I'll toss you one of your precious badges, you can pin it on and leave with a sense of accomplishment. You can even claim you beat me without a single lost pokemon. I'm sure it'll impress all of your friends when you tell them."

"My friends are in the room with me! I think they'll notice when you quit our battle. They have eyes you know!"

"Are you certain?" Morty shrugged. "Alright, we can continue this facade of a battle. Misdreavus, you're next if you want."

A Misdreavus appeared upside down, smiling at Darheel. It floated up close and licked his face, earning a shriek from Anna.

"X-Cutter again Darheel." He nodded, and I noted his breathing was heavier. The curse at work, sadly.

"Yes Lady Angela." Darheel leapt at Misdreavus.

"Astonish!"

"RAUGH!" The sudden yell caused Darheel to flinch, and sail through Misdreavious, landing on his back on the hard floor. Misdreavus reappeared over Darheel, and fired a shadow ball into his stomach, causing him to wretch.

"Lady Angela, I feel" He threw up on the gym floor. "I-I should not be this bad off."

"Yeah, that's the curse."

"C-curse?" Fluttering his wings, Darheel pushed himself back up. "You said it would only make me slower."

"I forgot to mention, it'll also make you horribly ill and drain your health very slowly. Sorry."

"It's not your fault Lady Angela." Except for the part where I forgot to tell him on purpose. "I will fight on anyway." Poor bastard.

Darheel was stumbling on his feet, head turned towards the ground, blades swaying. Misdreavus stuck his tongue out at Darheel.

"Fury cutter!" Darheel swung his pendulum like leg directly at Misdreavus, going so slow that Misdreavus could have hopped on one leg (if it had legs) to get away. Or Misdreavus would have had to do that had Darheel not missed completely, earning laughter from the ghost.

"I can still fight Lady Angela!" Misdreavus fired off another shadow ball, this one hitting Darheel in the side of the head and causing him to spin. He stayed on his feet though. "Just give me—

"Sorry Darheel." I pulled out his ball and pulled him in. "You've done good, but you're done. Anna, you're-YOW!"

"I don't wanna go!" Anna cried, digging her claws into me. "Please don't make me go."

"Sorry Anna." I said. "You gotta go." I reached around and grabbed her.

"But the dark will hurt me!"

"No it won't. No fear!" I yanked Anna (and part of my shirt) off of me, and tossed her into the gym.


	70. No Fear II

**AN:** Sorry about the gap, I've been dealing with depression issues, and I'll leave it at that. I've also been writing... professionally. I am now a writer for the website Reality News Online! It's every bit as time consuming and awesome as you might think.

**LXX: No Fear II**

Now I don't like talking that much my dear listener, but… stop laughing! I can't do this section justice from my own memories, so I'll recount the story from Anna's perspective as she told me. I hope I do her justice.

**Anna**

I'm not afraid of that much really. Not the ocean. Not heights. Not death. I'm afraid of being a pokemon.

I don't like battling because I'll be hurt. No, that's not true. I was afraid I'd be hurt, when I was a Treecko. Then Angela told me, or rather, promised me that I'd get stronger. With experience and levels, I'd be able to fight with the best of them. I said I trusted her.

I lied. I still remember Robin; I remember the three times I saw her. When she took me (because she couldn't get a Mudkip). When she used me to capture her Ralts. And when she put me into a PC.

Angela I knew was different, if for no other reason then throwing out my ball. That didn't mean I trusted her though, just that she was different. Angela tried talking with me, and got me to battle. I still didn't trust her. No, not until I evolved.

Evolution is the greatest sensation on Earth, putting orgasms to shame. Every cell in your body is reborn, revitalized with warmth and energy. No pain, instead there is pleasure in your bones reforming. When it was over, I felt…strong. Stronger then I ever had. I could do anything. I trusted Angela more in that moment then I ever thought possible. I was no longer afraid of battling.

Then Whitney broke my legs. The fear came back. Less of battling, more of gym battling. Regular trainers don't scare me, just gym leaders. For normal human trainers a battle is just a battle. Not with gym leaders.

Every battle is a war. They are so relentless when they battle; they refuse to loose no matter what they have to do. Hurt a pokemon? Break their bones? Do what you got to do.

Morty strikes me as being the same way, as the trainers I hate. Like Robin, he's heartless in regards to his pokemon, barely paying attention when he sends them out. Like Whitney, he does seem to care about winning. I might be wrong about him but I don't care. I still don't like being out here.

Misdreavus is smiling at me, and her eyes are excited. I don't see what's so exciting about this.

I sneak a look back at Angela to see if there is anything resembling sympathy on her face. Nope. Exhaustion, misery, anger, and something else. I don't know why Angela is upset but I have a guess. I know she isn't sleeping so something must be bothering her. I know about her sister, the one that she talks to Michael only about. They think I'm asleep and don't hear them and they're usually right. I've heard enough though. I was with them when they went to the first orphanage, and I know the next one is in Olivine City. I wonder if that's what she's worried about?

"Psywave" Morty said. Once again he'd gone back to reading his book, now bending part of a page between his fingers.

"Dodge and pound Anna."

Misdreavus' eyes glowed for a second, before a solid mass of purple shot out of her and straight at me. I jumped back to avoid them.

When I was still a Treecko, I was lighter and I jumped easier. I couldn't land easily on my feet though, since I didn't really have a way to grip. I had to use my hands to hang on as I leapt from branch to branch. At the time I felt invincible, but now that I've evolved I wonder… how did I manage to hang on at all?

It was so dangerous, holding on just by the balls of my digits. I was alive though in the air. With my Grovyle talons however, jumping as a Treecko would seem like standing still. When my talons grip the ground I can feel every muscle in my leg tense, every bit of energy flow through me.

I am master over the air, subservient only through the flying-types. When I finally do evolve again, I'll probably feel the same then as I do now. For now though I just want to ride the feeling.

The wood hurts my talons as I hit it, but no time to worry about that. I leap again and sling my head leaf into Misdreavus, doing very little since I just went through her. I wish I knew Leafblade, the energy from that would hurt Misdreavus. Also, why did Angela have me use pound?

She must be more tired then I thought. Pound won't do anything to a ghost-type.

"Confuse ray." Morty said, still not looking up. A bright and shiny ray beam shot out straight at me. Angela gave me the order to dodge, but not before the beam hit me square between the eyes.

Confusion is an odd experience. Instantly the floor began to undulate and all of the colors of the rainbow shot out at me. You can't see anything when confused, while at the same time you see everything. Like I said, very odd.

I don't want to be out here. I really don't. I want to be with Angela, in our room or out on a path. I'm happiest when we're just walking around and I can talk with the others. I can talk to Saya about being a warrior, Darheel about being human, or Emily about being a pokemon.

Sorry, don't mean to let my mind wander, being confused does that. I wonder why the sky is blue? Do you think it ever gets tired being blue? What about red? Or green? I really like green. I wonder why.

Someone gives me an order to do… something, I dunno. I'm going to try pound! Aren't I fighting Misdreavus? Can pound do anything? Well I'm going to try anyway!

Now when I jump, I don't just jump, I fly. Flying through clouds of colors and swirls that were coming every where. And a Grovyle is coming towards me! Shit, pound now!

WHAM!

Okay, now that hurt and once again I'm flying through the colors. It's so shiny! And my face really hurts! I think someone is yelling at me.

"Don't hurt yourself Anna!"

Is that Angela? I dunno. Boy is there a lot of shiny! Oh look, a shadow ball! I'm going to catch it!

My feet land on more of the swirling color and I leap straight at GAH!

Instantly the color vanishes and I crash into the ground. Why was I jumping for a shadow ball? Oh right, confused.

Confusion I must admit is a fun experience, just so long as you're not battling. Then it's painful.

"Bullet Seed!" Angela shouted. Ugh, I hate this attack.

I felt the seeds moving up my throat, and in an instant I began to puke seeds straight at Misdreavus. I wonder if trainers know how much it sucks to throw up seeds? Angela was an Umbreon she said she'd never have had to do this.

The seeds hit Misdreavus in the face. It frowned at me.

"Do I want to ask what those are coated in?"

"It's best not too, you'll sleep better." I said. "Do you like battling?" Misdreavus shrugged, I think. I'm not sure how a creature with no shoulders can shrug.

"It's alright. I don't really get the point, I don't get stronger. All I do is get beaten a lot." She said. "I also don't think Morty enjoys it either. All he wants to do is find Suicune. Every other sentence out of his mouth is 'we have to find Suicune'. You know what? We still haven't found Suicune! Morty only does this to earn money to pay for another trip."

"That sucks." I said. "You know, I don't think my train enjoys battling either. She seems to be unhappy all the time."

"Humans are confusing." Misdreavus said. "Mine won't let me evolve. My evolution was discovered in Sinnoh. Having a pokemon discovered in Sinnoh would apparently ruin the mood."

"Our trainers are giving commands, you think we should listen?"

"Probably." Misdreavus fired a shadow ball at me. I bounced back and used megadrain. Several green energy balls were sucked off of Misdreavus, who was now shaking slightly.

"Did I hurt you? Sorry." Misdreavus scoffed.

"Why must you apologize?" I frowned.

"I don't want to hurt you." Misdreavus rolled her eyes.

"You're in a battle where one of us will be knocked out!" She said with a laugh. "You're worried about hurting me. You need to hurt me. Surely this isn't your first battle." I shook my head.

"No, but I… I just—"

"Don't worry. I'm a Ghost-type. You can't harm me that badly. Besides, I'll just be knocked out." I nodded. "This doesn't make you feel better. What is the problem?" I frowned.

"Are my emotions that easy to read?"

"I see in emotions." Misdreavus said. "It's a weird way to see, but it's better then being able to read minds. In you I see many emotions. Currently you are yellow; you have great fear in you. Why is that?"

Angela was ordering me to do something; I could barely hear her. "I told you, I'm afraid to hurt you."

"That's some of it, but it's not fear of hurting me. It's fear of…" Misdreavus cocked its head. "It's fear of me hurting you isn't it?" I didn't even bother to act surprised, I just nodded.

"Yeah, it is." Angela gave a command and I fired off an Energy Ball straight at Misdreavus. Misdreavus let it smack its face, causing green energy to crackle across its body.

"Do you think I'm really going to harm you?" Misdreavus asked. "I'm the pokemon of a trainer who doesn't give a crap. If Morty had his way, he'd be paid to look for Suicune."

"It's not you." I said.

"Then what?" Angela ordered me to use Pound. Once again I got to wonder where her head is at since Pound will do nothing. By now Morty was back in his book, occasionally mumbling a command.

I leapt at Misdreavus, and again sailed through her. I landed on my feet, scratching the wooden floor. Claws make a rather nasty sound when they scratch hard wood. I do not like it. I turned up to Misdreavus.

"I was injured in a gym battle, I'll leave it at that." I said. "The thing about it is, the injury isn't what got to me."

"It isn't?"

"No, it was why I was injured." Why am I opening up to a Misdreavus I don't know? Because she can't judge me? Because I don't know her? "I was on the ground already. I was down, not going to do much more. The battle would have lasted a few minutes longer."

"And?"

"And she decided to have her… Miltank break my legs." Why? "It didn't make sense. She didn't have to break them, she could have stopped!"

"You're getting worked up." Misdreavus said.

"She still did it though! She did it because she enjoyed it! I spent weeks waiting for my bones to heal." I was still ranting, no longer paying attention to what was happening. Misdreavus fired off another shadow ball and I dodged it out of instinct. "I don't understand why she did it. That's the frightening thing! I can only guess, she did it because she liked it or she's sadistic. Ordinary trainers don't do that!"

"Anna! Listen to my commands!" Angela yelled at me. I probably should have listened, but I was too far-gone right now. "Megadrain!"

"She's ignoring you." Morty said, reading his book again. "I say let them talk. I don't really care about this gym battle. I've got to justify my position as Gym Leader by taking on an arbitrary number of battles each year. So how about this, let them do whatever they want, I'll pretend you won and then give you a gym badge. That work?"

"NO!" I yelled. "It will not work! I demand to win!" Morty sighed.

"Misdreavus, faint." Misdreavus immediately fell out of the sky and landed right in front of me. "There you win. Please take your badge and go."

"Wait, that's it?" I asked. "I win?"

"Yeah pretty much." Misdreavus said. "Most battles end this way. Morty really doesn't care about being a gym leader."

"How'd he end up as one?"

"Drinking binge. Spent four days drinking without eating to console himself on not finding Suicune again. The Johto League was holding try outs for taking over this gym, and Morty stumbled into the line drunk off his ass. Morty actually is a good drunken pokemon trainer, which is remarkable. Anyway he passed with flying colors and celebrated by puking on the gym floor. When he sobered up, Morty was now in possession of a gym and a head scarf."

"I don't get it. Why own a gym if he hates it? Why not give it up to anyone else?"

"It's an easy way to fund his search for Suicune." Misdreavus said. "That's not important. This gym battle didn't kill you."

"Yeah, and?"

"And you made it through! Your legs didn't get broken! You can't assume that you'll get injured every time you have a gym battle. Otherwise you end up a neurotic freak who fights random pokemon and has a trainer that wants to fuck Suicune." I took a step back. "Yeah this battle was never going to be lost, but the point is you made it through it. Are you still scared?"

"No." Yes. Misdreavus smiled.

"Do you think it'll get easier?"

"Why do you care." Angela was coming over to collect me, but I wasn't paying attention. Misdreavus…shrugged I think, it's hard to do when you lack shoulders.

"No reason. I just happen to enjoy talking to others; it helps pass the eternity of being a ghost. Now tell me, did I help you?" Angela came over and scooped me up.

"Yeah, you did!" I called. She did help, but not in the way she wanted. Misdreavus wanted me to stop being afraid.

I was still terrified of fighting in another gym. That didn't change at all. In fact I would remain terrified for quite some time. Because fear doesn't go away easily.

I'd love to just declare myself the Sceptile without fear, but I'm not. I'm still afraid, all the time I'm afraid. I just learned how to deal with it. The fear never goes away, but you learn to take it head on. When it doesn't effect you, then you're brave. Eventually I was able to deal with my phobia's, including fighting against gym leaders. And I am stronger because of it.

Fuckin' A.

**ANII: **Morty is not like his anime/game version, but his manga version since this is a manga story. If he seems like a joke, read the manga. Not only is my version accurate, mine might be restrained.


	71. Pecha and Wade's Battle of Insanity

**AN:** Would have had this up last week, had it not been for my hard drive deciding to go and crash. Anyway, one thing I've noticed is that for the last few months is having less fun writing this. I looked back and realized, I haven't done a purely humor chapter in months. So I've got something a lot lighter this week.

**LXXI: Pecha and Wade's Battle Of Insanity**

Let's take a break from the more serious stories for a little while my dear listener; instead let me tell you about something happening back at the hotel while I was battling. At the same time, back in the hotel…

"Pecha hereby calls this meeting of The Worthless Rejects to order!"

Pecha was being, well, Pecha. She was sitting on top of three pillows stacked like a throne, balancing a bowl on her head like a crown. I might be wrong, but Pecha might just have an ego.

"But not everyone is here." Streak said. "Iggy is missing. I mean, it's a big deal isn't it?" Streak turned to a lamp. "Holy shit there is light here!"

"Streak, how many bath salts did you eat?" Trish asked.

"The walls are trying to kill me! Fuck my fur is eating me alive! GAH!" Streak ran full speed into a wall, knocking himself out instantly. Streak was now giggling in his sleep.

"Bath salts must be fun." Rush said. "I'd like to go swimming, who's with me?"

"We can't get out." Trish said, fluttering over to the sliding glass doors. "Oh believe me, I could if I would, but I can't. I like being free; birds were never meant to be locked up. Then again, this city is so horribly…dull."

"How so?" Quintcel asked, fluttering over beside her.

"It's so wooden, literally! Reminds me of a forest, except I don't like forests. They're all interchangeable. And wet, so very wet. I lived near a volcano once; I liked that a lot more. Ash is a lot nicer, warm and smells nice. Less trees sure, but the ones that are there at least look different."

"I must say you are speaking about stuff that is not important to The Worthless Rejects who are lead by Pecha who I am!" Pecha declared. The Chu is brutal on sentences. "Pecha is I is Pecha declares we must return the focus to me! I will get this meeting back on track! Also, thinking of a statue of someone important, namely me, who we can carry around from place to place! Thoughts?"

At this point, no one was paying attention to Pecha, and had that kept up everything would have been good. Except, life isn't good here, it never is. No, at that moment Wade chose to jump down.

"You're not good enough to have a statue." Wade said. "A statue belongs to someone who has climbed tall mountains, who has swam mighty oceans, and who has thrown metal balls underhanded at ceramic tiles. I have!"

Wade was April's Vaporeon, who in the short time I'd known him had bragged about…everything. Everything under the sun that you could possibly brag about doing or accomplishing this eon had bragged about. Wade should bug the hell out of me, but being a fellow eon (sort of) I felt sympathetic to a certain degree. Then again, I'm an Umbreon so sympathy only goes so far.

Pecha was like Wade in that she didn't know the meaning of "shut up." She didn't know when screaming wasn't helpful and giving speeches weren't needed, like Wade. Oh, and like Wade she was completely psychotic. Since these two were alike, you'd think they'd get along great. To punish you for thinking I will be telling this story.

Pecha flipped around to Wade, eyes wide and twitching, ears pulled back. She stepped foreword, only to fall off her pillow tower and crash into the ground, bowl shattering on her head. Undeterred, Pecha shook the ceramic off and turned to Wade.

"You! You believe that Wade who is you is worthy of Pecha's statue! I am PECHA!" She struck a pose while screaming this, of course. "Who are you before me? Founder of the highly successful New Chu Order—"

"That failed to concur the world." Trish said.

"And the Worthless Rejects—"

"Who still will not help you take over the world."

"Pecha is I is the one who deserves a statue! But I is am willing to hear out your story as to why you deserve a statue. Tell I of your life Blueon!" I honestly doubt that Pecha knows the names of any of the evolutions of Eevee. Then again I don't know that Pecha knows what an Eevee is.

"Me? You don't know of my feats?" Wade asked. "I'll have you know that I am a hero in Honduras." Where the hell is Honduras? "I was once attacked by a Sharpedo while kayaking across the ocean. I managed to beat it off with only my head fins and my sheer force of will. After it was done, I struck a pose." If any part of that story is true, it's the last part. Wade definitely at some point struck a pose.

"How did you manage to kayak without having any thumbs?" Trish asked. Wade laughed.

"I wasn't paddling, I was just riding in the kayak. I had someone else to paddle for me, I called in a favor."

"A favor?" Trish asked, voice flat. You could tell she was trying not to smirk, in the unusual Skarmory way. "You called in a pretty crappy favor to end up being kayaked into a place full of Sharpedo."

"I don't want to place blame on my guide" Wade said, "I mean, he did is best. But he does kind of suck, I mean it was his fault I ended up attacked after all."

"Only Pecha who I am is allowed to contradict herself while speaking." Pecha growled. "I am so much cooler then you, I deserve my Pecha statue! Made of platinum and while gold, with a base made of the skulls of my enemies! Mwa ha ha ha ha!" Pecha may or may not have done the evil laugh, but I'm going to assume she did.

"How many of your enemies have you killed?" Wade asked.

"Many. Many many enemies." Pecha lied, "So many that" She tried to get back on top of her pillow pile. "That I can't even remember them all! But I arranged them into a pyramid, all 527 of them!"

"You just said you couldn't remember them all." Trish said. Pecha growled a zapped a bolt of electricity at Trish. Trish avoided it with the clever tactic of moving slightly to the left. "Would you like me to point out the other holes in your story?"

"Given that she zapped at you Ms. Trish, I'm not certain she would." Quintcel said.

"Quin, why not go somewhere and tell us that water is wet." Trish mumbled. Quintcel shrugged.

"Is this a quest?" Trish just stared at him.

"…Yes."

"Can do." Quintcel wondered off to the bathroom. Trish just sighed.

"Of course." She returned her attention to Pecha and Wade. Rush was watching them also.

"Well I can assure you that I have left a swath of bodies from coast to coast of Johto and Kanto, just of my dead enemies. Everyone who wishes to stand against me has been burned by my fire!"

"You're a water-type!" Trish screamed.

"Minor detail. Let me tell you all about the time I was attacked by a nasty traveling group of Rotom. I was climbing Mt. Thisstoryisbullshit." That's totally what the mountain was called! "I had almost made it to the top—"

"How did you climb without thumbs?" Trish asked. Wade laughed. "Let me guess, you called in yet another favor?"

"Yes, I was getting pulled up in a basket being carried by a Slaking who owed me his life after I pulled him out from under a burning tree." My God, the amount of bullshit in that one sentence was so high that it threatened to rip a hole in reality.

"How on Earth were you able to lift up a tree that a Slaking couldn't?" Trish asked. Wade laughed again. He turned to her and winked.

"I had my methods."

"Pecha suspects that you might be a liar." Pecha said, "But Pecha I am does not know for certain. Continue your story about Rotom!"

"Rotom? I wasn't fighting Rotom." Wade said. "It was Emogla, an entire pack of flying Emolga who attacked me and my jackass Slaking. They attacked me of course because they are evil electric types—"

"Electric-types are NOT EVIL!" Pecha shrieked, accidentally falling off of her pillow throne and landing on her face. She pushed herself up and continued screaming. "Electric-types are noble, hard working, regular, awesome, spunky, world ruling, considerate, Chu, sparky, yellow, and Pecha! Electric-types are fantastic! The best of the best! You can trust them, unlike ground-types, and they won't eat your yogurt like ghost-types!

"Ghost-types eat your yogurt?" Trish asked. Rush, Wade and Pecha all looked up at her.

"Duh. Do you know nothing?" Rush asked. "Even I know this! Pecha told me so." Pecha walked over to Rush and hugged him. Rush licked her nose. Pecha returned her attention to Wade.

"You said you were attacked by Rotom, then by Emogla. Which one is it Blueon? I am almost certain that you might just possibly be a liar. Are you a liar Blueon, or what else was it?" Wade rolled his eyes and laughed triumphantly.

"It was a race of hybrid Rotom-Emogla." Pecha stumbled backwards, Trish just rolled her eyes.

"Even Pecha wouldn't be so stupid as—"

"Like Kipchu!" Pecha shrieked.

"No! Nothing like Kipchu!" Trish yelled. She fluttered in front of Pecha. "Kipchu are…well they aren't real, they're what you keep imagine will happen when you and Rush mate. Roto-Emogla…how would that even work? Emgola are flying-type, Rotom are incorporeal. Do they even have sexual equipment?"

"They must because I was attacked by them!" Wade said. "Why would I exaggerate? To make myself look better? I am so fantastic and wondrous that I don't need to look better! You will know me by my actions and my statue."

"Pecha will have a statue!"

"I think this chapter just entered re-runs." Trish mumbled. "Why are you two arguing? You two are the exact same!"

"We are not!" Pecha said. "Pecha is a demonstration of all that is fantastic about Pikachu! Pecha is a testament to hard work, will power, and lightning-bolt shaped tails. This Blueon is a fraud who liked about being attacked by Rotgla! How dare you lie about this?"

"It isn't a lie." Wade said. "I was near the top of Mt. Thisstoryisbullshit when the Rotgla swooped down from the air to kill me! They were horrid creatures, shooting fire and throwing ninja stars."

"You know." Trish said, "His story may be bullshit, but it's at least entertaining. Hell, he's got me excited, why did the Rotgla shoot fire?"

"They were orange of course. The Rotom half was orange."

"So they were Electric-Flying-Fire-type

"That's correct, the rare tri-type." Wade said. "Thankfully, with quick thinking, cat-like reflexes and a hot mate who you don't know, I was able to defeat the entire cloud of Rotgla by myself. I managed to create a cloud of water that both extinguished the fire and caused them to electrocute themselves. I was incredible."

"And humble." Trish said.

"Pecha has done the incredible also!" Pecha said. "Pecha saved the life of her sister Cheri from the evil human death-road. Death-road claims the lives of many Chu each year, and the only one to survive has been Pecha."

"You just said you saved your sister." Trish said.

"Zip it foul death bird." Pecha growled. "I is still talking. Now Blueon I am always important, more so then you. My actions are worthy of a set of books, just dedicated to how freaking awesome I am!"

"I deserve a movie dedicated just to my life." Wade said. "I imagine myself being played by an Espeon. I think I'd look really good in purple."

"You're a Vaporeon though" Trish said, "Wouldn't people notice an Espeon shooting water?"

"Silence! I am pontificating on who I am which is great." Wade said. "Have I ever told the story of how I once rode a cannon ball to the moon?"

"You have not been to the moon." Pecha said. "Pecha has been to the moon and not seen you!"

"Since when have you been to the moon you rodent?" Trish asked.

"Don't call Pecha a rodent!" Rush snapped. "If Pecha went to the moon, then she has been to the moon. I believe her." Pecha swooned, falling into Rushes…well nothing. Since Rush lacks arms, he was unable to catch her and Pecha had to settle for falling in front of him.

"Pecha I am meant to do that!"

"Why would you mean to keep falling flat on your ass?" Trish asked.

"Silence death bird!" Pecha growled, sitting up again. "Alright Wade, I have listened to your claims on why you deserve a statue. I am Pecha and have come to a decision!"

"On whether I deserve one or not?"

"No. On who will decide whether you or I deserve a statue." Pecha cleared her throat. "Rush, be objective and tell me that I, I mean either me or Wade deserves a statue."

"You do Pecha."

"Rush has spoken! The decision is made." Pecha climbed back on top of her stack of pillows. Rush hopped up beside her. "Now, I'm thinking it should be made of platinum, with me holding a Milotic skull, standing on top of a dead Blueon!"

"Hey I'm a Blueon!" Wade said.

"You are not" Trish snapped, "There is no such thing. You're a Vaporeon! And you Pecha, there are seven different Eevee evolutions, stop calling them by their color! How would you like it if I called you Yellowchu?"

"Pecha is still Chu, so all is right with the world." Pecha said. Of course it is. Before Pecha could continue on with her madness, April walked up.

"God, they must have left me to sleep." April mumbled. She scooped Wade up into her hands. "What do you say you and me get something to eat Wade?"

"I shall kill you something mighty!" The two of them headed out, leaving The Worthless Rejects alone.

"I think Wade is afraid of you." Rush said.

"He should be. All should tremble before the might of I Pecha!" Pecha ranted while shaking her fist-paw.

"Uh, don't you mean The Worthless Rejects and Pecha?"

"Grrr, yes that's what I mean. Stop talking foul death bird." Pecha returned her attention to Rush and the two talked until we made it back from the gym.


	72. Seventh Death

**AN: **Meant to have this up yesterday, FF in their infinite wisdom made that impossible. Anyway it's up now, so enjoy.

**LXXII: Seventh Death**

I slept poorly that night, as I had every other night for a few months now. Even when I did sleep, the feeling stuck with me. The paranoia and the fear. The nameless, all encompassing fear that washed over me in the night.

"Help me, please help me."

No nightmare, that's just it. I wasn't having nightmares I couldn't see anything. All I had was emotion and vague awareness. I was there I think, wrapped in the overwhelming sense of despair.

"I can't-please stop! Please!"

Alone and dark. This is my hell, being alone and dark for all of eternity, unable to escape. Hurt me, kill me, just make it stop.

"PLEASE!"

"Angela!"

"WAGH" I jolted straight up. Michael grabbed me and pulled me into his chest.

"It's okay Ang, it's okay. I'm here." He was stroking my hair I think, I couldn't tell. Everything felt off and bad. Oh God I was shaking.

"Michael…thank you."

"I heard you whispering in your sleep. What was that all about?" I said nothing, just hugging him tighter.

"I dunno. I just…sorry."

"You can tell me Angela." Michael was smiling in the dark, I knew even though I couldn't see him. I loved his smile.

"Yeah I know. I'm…glad you're hear." I yawned. "I think we both need to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Sleep came a few minutes later, this time it came with wonderful dreams. Sleep sometimes freaks me out, I don't know why. Tonight though I felt well in Michael's warm arms. And moist. To feel better, the next morning we had an early fuck.

* * *

"You don't need me here to help you buy crap." Charlotte said. "You don't even need me to loan you money anymore, you've won enough from trainers that you can pay for stuff on your own."

"Wrong. I could pay for stuff on my own. But then, it wouldn't be as fun as having you pay for it, now would it?" I asked.

"So in other words, you're going to keep having me loan you money even though you can afford it."

"That's correct."

"I'm never getting paid back, am I?"

"You catch on fast Charlotte." We were in the Pokemart, looking over supplies we needed for the next leg of our trip, starting tomorrow. We needed potions, we needed MREs, and Charlotte needed three cartons of unfiltered cigarettes. I can't help but notice Charlotte only smokes when she's stressed, and the longer she travels with me, the more she smokes.

Must be a coincidence.

"Why are we waiting Lady Charlotte?" Quintcel asked from Charlotte's back, "I can cleave us a path with my mighty horn. Let me cleave this line aside, so you may make your way to the front."

"Oh I've got someone I'd like for you to cleave." Charlotte mumbled. We were at the end of a way to long line, with at least ten people in front of us, one of them in a yellow Tabernacle robe. Yellow robe was at the front of the line, so I made sure to be at the end.

"This is going to take forever."

"Stop whining." I snapped. "It won't take that long, just so long as we keep moving and nothing dumb happens." As I've mentioned many times my dear listener, the universe runs on a system of irony.

"Do you hear police sirens?"

It was at this moment that two men dressed in what looked to be leather bondage gear rushed in, brandishing guns. Even as they entered, we could see several police cars pulling up towards the store.

"I think we're safe now." Idiot I said.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Idiot II said. The two of them finally looked at us. "Who the fuck are all of you?" Everyone in the store looked at one another. Finally the cashier spoke up.

"This is a Pokemart. Would you like to buy something?" At that moment the police cars halted to a stop. One officer came out holding a megaphone.

"You're surrounded! Release the hostages and come out with your hands up! You can't escape."

"You know," Charlotte said, "Until the cops said to release the hostages, these two hadn't taken any hostages."

"Sadly, yeah."

* * *

Ten minutes later we were sitting against the back wall while the two morons were holding guns on us. They had had us push displays against the doors to make it impossible to get in. I said that it wouldn't matter because there were so many windows, a sniper could shoot both of them before they had a chance to blink. So now the two idiots were sitting on the ground in front of us, and had all the displays arranged so that the cops couldn't see inside.

"You know this is your fault." Charlotte snapped at me.

"How is it my fault?" I asked.

"You kept telling them that we needed to be hidden from the cops and to ignore all phone calls! You kept saying 'that's not how a real hostage taker would do it!'"

"I didn't think they were listening." I snapped back. "Is there anyway you can get Quintcel out of his ball?"

"Not a chance." Charlotte said. I could see Charlotte reaching for Quintcel's ball, which was in her boot. The idiot hostage takers had forced us to put all our shrunken pokeballs in our shoes and keep our hands in our laps. Someone might have accidentally given them that idea, mentioning it's what a good kidnapper would do, but I refuse to name names. "You've got your magic mind control tattoo. Use it, take over their minds, get us out of here."

"Have to be able to lift up my hand, and they said if we do that they will shoot us. Besides, I got to point the eye at their eyes, that's how I get inside of their brains. No way I'll be able to do that where I am." Besides, what would I do with that ability? I don't take over their mind; I just get into it. All I would be able to do is give them a bad headache.

"Man, why is this happening to us?" Idiot I asked, twirling his magnum revolver. Every time he twirled the barrel towards us, we jumped a little. In case you were wondering, yes the gun was fully loaded and yes he was twirling it on the trigger.

"The fucking pigs have it out for us man. Can't prove we did anything." Idiot II said. They originally were referring to each other by name, but I might have accidentally said that wasn't what good kidnappers do. I should really just shut my fucking mouth.

"I say, we kill all the hostages because they no what we look like." Idiot I said. "Then, we give ourselves up to the police. Since no one saw us do it, they can't prove we did!"

"How much coke did you do?"

"This much!" He said, holding up seven fingers."

"I suspect we might be doomed." I whispered to Virgil. "Our coked out captors are…well drugged and stupid, two things that do not go well together." Charlotte then said something that stunned me.

"I wish Virgil was here." Charlotte said. "Then things would be better."

"How?" I asked. Mind you, Virgil as my (self-appointed) bodyguard wanted to follow me here, but I left him at the hotel. He asked for me to buy him a four pack of steak knives…for some reason. He also asked if I could find him a tea pot and teacup set. There is something wrong with that Zangoose.

"I feel better with him around, safer. I don't know if he'd be able to do anything, but I wouldn't be worried then." Charlotte said. "I've been spending a lot of time with Virgil lately."

"So I noticed." I turned to Charlotte. "Is their any interest in—"

"No." Charlotte shook her head. "Not at all. Not as it stands with me, my life is far to screwed up. I don't…can't. No just no. No interest in that, no way." She said no or some variation, seven times in fifteen seconds. Just ponder that my dear listener.

"Fine." I turned away from her, to look at the rest of the hostages. To the yellow robe, or rather, the golden robe. The robe struck me because I had seen it before. On the faceless man who attacked me in Goldenrod City. "How much do you know about the Tabernacle of The Sun?"

"Desiree is a follower, you should ask her." Charlotte said. "I personally don't know or care that much."

"Remember when I was attacked at the Pokemon center in Goldenrod?" I asked. "I told you guys that the freak had been in a golden robe."

"Yeah I know." Charlotte frowned. "You think a member of the Tabernacle attacked you?"

"He was in a robe like that. No symbols on it, but then again no symbols on that one. I don't get it. Anyway, when I was rolling around inside that blank fuckers head, Not Milotic was there. Except, not just there, inside of his brain I saw a picture of a sun with a Milotic in the center."

"Which one is Not Milotic again?" Charlotte asked. "Your back story confuses the living daylights out of me."

"Not Milotic is the evil version of Not Meowth, except she's a Milotic." I said. "Also, she wants to take over the world, or be God, not sure which. She really hates me; I blame my nice rack. Anyway, the freak without a face was a member of the Tabernacle. He never said it, nor did Not Milotic, but I'd bet my life that that's the same robe."

"Why would one of the largest religions on Earth, second largest in Johto" Charlotte said, "Want to work with an evil demigod and try to kill you?"

"The Tabernacle was driven out of Hoenn 400 years ago. They must want revenge against everyone from Hoenn." Charlotte cocked her head.

"Seriously?"

"NO! Of course not. They want something, not sure what but something. Not sure what yet, but I'll figure it out."

"It doesn't make any sense to me." Charlotte said. "No one would work with a giant, talking multi-dimensional Milotic. Would they?"

"People do crazy things for power." I said. "But still, common sense says don't work with creatures that are one twirly mustache away from being a cartoon villain."

"HEY!" We turned to the idiots. "Are you two talking! Did you not hear what we said about talking? Ya don't do it! At all!" The smart thing to do would have been to say nothing.

"Oh blow me." I snapped. That was not the smart thing to do. But how bad could that end up?"

"I said shut up!" Idiot II lunged foreword and slammed the barrel of his gun against the top of my head. When he did that, everyone winced or cried out. Everyone except the person in yellow. Yellow robe just sat there, unmoving and blank. I ended up slammed against the floor by that blow.

"Angela!"

"Okay, not smart." I mumbled, pushing myself to my knees. "You know what, you've earned this." I slammed the palm of my tattooed hand against the idiots face, even as both of them pointed their guns at me. I fell foreword, into Idiot II…

* * *

…And slammed into the hard desert of the room of my mind. Once again back here. My desert was warm and calm, while across from me I could see what looked like a crack house. Idiot II was standing, waving his gun.

"What-Where the hell am I?"

"We're in the room of your mind." Idiot snapped his head towards me. "Personally, the room of your mind just stuns me," I said, walking towards him. "Not the content of it, I mean it fits your personality. What surprises me is that you even have a mind." Idiot boy flipped the gun at me, even as I went for one of the pokeballs around my waist.

"I wouldn't do that." I instantly found myself inside of Darheels armor body. Idiot fired his gun, but I was already behind him, blade to his neck. "Alright, this is what we're going to do. We're going to go back to the real world. You're going to surrender."

"I will not!"

"You're going to surrender, because if you don't I'm going to lob your head off. Beyond that, I don't care. Do you understand?" Idiot II nodded.

"Y-Yeah." I smiled. With that, we left the world of the mind…

* * *

…And returned to the world of the living. Idiot II's face changed from confidence to fear. He dropped his gun and stood up.

"What are you doing?" Idiot I asked. Idiot II ignored him and started walking towards the door. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Idiot II still ignored him. "Goddamn you!" Idiot I turned his back to us jumped up and lifted his gun. That was as much as he was able to do before several angry hostages jumped him.

"GAH!' Idiot I rolled around kicking, trying to keep us off. I took an elbow to the gut, causing me to roll away coughing.

Laying on my back, I got to watch the mob wrestling with Idiot I. I got to watch yellow robe standing above them.

Idiot II was standing at the door, not leaving. Yellow robe walked past the door, straight too Idiot II. From his robes, a knife appeared.

"What..the hell?"

"Guilt." Yellow robe whispered. Before I could say a word, yellow robe grabbed Idiot II by the hair. "You are seven of ten!"

He pulled the hostage taker onto his knife.

* * *

Panic. Sheer unadulterated panic as the police broke into the door. They pulled us off of Idiot I, helped me to my feet. I remember several questions, what is my name, am I alright, what did they talk about, why am I here?"

"I don't know."

"I don't know."

"I don't know." They didn't listen.

One body lay on the floor, the second man. Even as I sat on the floor, talking to the police, I could see the store. I could see everyone except yellow robe. He was missing.

And the seventh of ten was dead.


	73. Nemuri and Emily's Afternoon

**AN:** Alright, so I've been gone six months. Sorry about that. I've decided to tell you though, and I hope you understand. Shortly after I published the last chapter, I was informed my dog was being put to sleep. Then I found out a friend of mine from school had died. Then that I was losing my job with Reality News Online due to them going under.

So yeah, I had a bad week. I needed some time off to deal with my grief. I'm back now though and fucking awesome.

**LXXIII: Nemuri and Emily's Afternoon**

"I must be a moron." Nemuri mumbled. "I could teleport myself halfway across Johto, set up another collective. I could have found another group of saps and convinced them to leave their trainers and come live in the woods with me. I could have found a willing and in heat Abra! Instead I'm on a journey of the damned, just so I could maybe loose my tail and gain two spoons. What am I thinking?"

At the point Charlotte and I were inside of a pokemart, in a hostage situation that I sort of had escalated...only a little! Oh hush. Any, Nemuri was finally free of his ball, lying on a pillow, looking at the ceiling. "I'm the most powerful Abra alive. I might be the most powerful psychic type alive, more so then even the stupid non-existent legendaries. I'm intelligent, attractive, charming, humble, just wonderful and yet! I'm stuck here.

"It's temporary. Once she evolves me, once I ditch the tail and get my second spoon, then I'm gone! If I'm incredible as an Abra, I'll be a god on Earth as an Alakazam! Then everyone will tremble with fear!"

"Why with fear? Fear sucks." Nemuri turned, to see Emily leap onto the bed, struggling to get onto the bed. "Fear isn't like good at all." Nemuri frowned, or tried. Given that an Abra could only make one face, he always looked the same.

"Have you assumed that I'm not 'like good', or does that baffle your weak mind?" Emily rolled her eyes.

"You're very bitter I notice."

"Leave me alone."

"Spiteful."

"Shut it."

"You should smile more."

"What will it take for you to shut up?"

"Not a darn thing." Emily said with a laugh. "I like you Nemuri."

"I do not care."

"I know you don't." Emily said. "What I like about you is that you don't pretend things, you don't lie. I mean, you do lie, but not about how you're feeling." Nemuri might have shot her an irritated glance. How can you tell when you can't see someone's eyes?

"You on the other hand are all feelings. You also chose not to hide it, no matter how much someone would beg you too." Emily giggled. "Why did you laugh? I said nothing funny. There is no humor to be had small one."

"When you get angry, the fur on the back of your neck stands up." Emily said. "More of it stands up the angrier you get. You look like you've been hit by lightning. I wonder if Pecha could do that." She walked closer to Nemuri, and stuck her face up to his.

"...What?"

"How do you see without eyes?" Nemuri mind blasted Emily back. She rolled across the bed like a skee-ball.

"I have eyes you blue furred palooka." Nemuri snapped at her.

"What's a palooka?"

"An oaf or lout." Nemuri said. "Which I'll admit applies much more to our 'trainer' then to you, but my insult stands. You annoy me, I mind smack you. I have the power!"

"Yes, and I have power to. Ya!" Emily fired a bolt of electricity straight at Nemuri, zapping him.

"Yowch! Why did you do that?"

"Felt like it." Emily sat up. She looked out on the balcony, where Emily and Virgil were looking out at the city. Michael meanwhile was asleep on the other bed, with a sock wrapped around his forehead and a plum inserted into an orifice. I'm into some kinky shit.

"You'd assume someone would notice us yelling." Emily said. "Especially since one of them can understand pokemon, and one can understand one pokemon."

"No one notices us, no one cares." Nemuri growled. "Nor should they. There is value in being invisible. Just because you aren't being seen doesn't mean you don't exist. When you're not being seen, you can do much more then when you are."

"And how much can you do anyway?"

"Shut up." Nemuri rolled onto his back. "I am too powerful for this place."

"Powerful? Do you know any move besides teleport?"

"I could reshape a mountain with my mind if I so chose to." Nemuri continued, ignoring the Shinx. "I could warp reality."

"I'm thinking that psychic powers and magic are not the same thing. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"I know I'm powerful. That's why I've been taken, stuck in this wretched place."

"You kind of remind me of this kid I knew who tried to eat the foxglove I was growing, even though I knew what it would do to him, and I was only eight at the time. He was ten." Nemuri sighed.

"What on Earth is foxglove? What are you babbling about? You're only a few months old at most, you're just a Shinx."

"Well I am now." Emily said. "Wasn't originally. Wait, you know all of this. You mentioned my brother to me! Why?"

"I did?" Nemuri shrugged. "Don't remember. Don't care, important. You were human once...remember it vaguely. Meh, it's not important."

"It is to me!" Emily said. "I wasn't just human, I'm reborn. I was human, and Arceus himself offered me a chance to be reborn as a Shinx. I just had to be reborn years later." Nemuri turned to her. "What?"

"He told you you'd be reborn years later?"

"Yep. Not sure the number. Why?" Nemuri shook his head.

"I usually don't believe in Arceus. But, if they do exist, it does confirm something I've long since suspected."

"Which is?"

"That the legendary will screw over anyone to achieve a goal of theirs." Nemuri said. "That any beings that can manipulate time and matter have goals we can not understand. Make no mistake, why you were brought back and now only matters to Arceus. He views you as a means to an end I'm sure." Emily rolled her eyes. "What?"

"You're being paranoid."

"How am I?"

"You assume that just because Arceus gave me a gift, he must have some kind of sinister goal he wants to achieve."

"Of course I do, the legendary are out to get us." Nemuri said. "Legendary are evil, controlling, and all out to get us. I know they have their own goals, not sure what, but we're just pieces on a game board to them."

"I'm wondering if there is some kind of medication for what's wrong with you." Emily said. "Maybe an injection to the base of the spine. Or reefer. I learned how to grow that when I was eight."

"I do not want to know what that is." Nemuri said. "Do not tell me, I do not have time to listen to things that I don't care about."

"I can't imagine why you have no friends." Emily said. "I think you're lonely. I'll be your friend if you want."

"Friends are irrelevant."

"Why?"

"They want thing from you." Nemuri said. "The only reason anyone tries to get to know someone else is because they want something out of it."

"Why?"

"Because all living creatures are self serving, it's in our nature. I for instance am only staying with Angela to increase my own strength. Once I evolve, I am leaving."

"Why?" Emily said, grinning as she watched Nemuri pontificate.

"Because this team is to small for me. My power will make mountains tremble, will reshape continents if I so chose. I must be by myself though."

"Why?"

"Because others hold you back and I just realized you're messing with me aren't you?"

"Yes I am." Emily said. "I was curious if you'd notice." Nemuri mumbled something about "fucking Shinx".

"Of course I noticed you annoyance. Go away!" Emily shook her head. "Why not?"

"I told you, you're lonely." Emily walked closer to him. "I'm not going to leave you alone, I'm going to be your friend. I'm sure you need one." She sat down. "I'm young I know, I'm only 14...I think, my age is kind of all over the place. But even though I'm young, I know all about being alone."

"This should be wonderful." Nemuri mumbled, going to his mental happy place to avoid listening.

"My family moved to Orre when Orre was a country." Emily said. "Of course within a year, society collapsed, the government and rebels started firing chemical and biological weapons at each other, all the plants died and I had to live under my own house. Not a good time."

"Damn it." Nemuri, despite his best attempt, was now listening.

"Didn't have friends, didn't have much of anything. Took up gardening." Emily said. "I was really good at that actually. The problem is, after a while I realized outside of my family; my only friends were flowers. This was not good. Then I died. That was worse."

"To say the least." Nemuri said. "I'm not going to ask about how you died since honestly, do not care. I do wonder though, if you were living in a waste land, why did your family not leave?"

"Could not get out." Emily said. "The rebels closed the borders, no planes in and out. So we had to stay in our house, even after it was bombed."

"Bombed."

"Just a little bombed." Emily said. "We moved into the basement. Ryan, my brother, built us a lot of stuff. He wanted to be an engineer one day. He built a water purifier out of stuff. Don't remember what. Do you have any family Nemuri?"

"One sister and one brother." Nemuri said. "Met them once, haven't met them since. I found them both to be irritations."

"Ryan was annoying sometimes." Emily said. "I still cared about him though."

"Good for you. Now that we've talked, will you please leave?"

"Nope!" Emily chirped. "You seem down. It's my job as your new friend to make you feel better." Nemuri growled.

"I am not down! Here, I'm smiling." Nemuri grimaced at her. "This is a smile, now leave you annoying pixie."

"You don't smile much do you?" Emily asked. "Well that's alright, I can fix that. Nemuri, what do you do for fun?"

"Strangle annoying Shinx with their own tails using only my mind." He growled.

"Boring. You don't relax much either I take it."

"Relaxation is for the weak. What I do in my spare time is plan for the future. There is always something to be planned for, something I might not be prepared for. If I had planned for that girl to capture me, I would not be here right now."

"You're a pokemon and you didn't plan on being captured?" Emily asked. "For a super genius, you sure are a dumbass."

"I am not a dumbass!" Nemuri shouted. "I am the smartest being in this room and eventually in all of existence."

"You've got a high opinion of yourself." Emily said. "You know, you seem to be a bit of a freak, like the rest of us here. I think that makes you perfect for our party."

"...How on Earth would being a freak make anyone perfect for anything?"

"Well let's see. We've got a Grovyle whose scared of pretty much anything, a Horsea who thinks she can bench press a building, a Scyther who believes he's actually human, a Shinx who actually is human, and an arrogant and psychotic Abra. Seems like a perfect fit." Nemuri started to respond, until realization hit him.

"Oh God, I really do belong here." Nemuri flopped back. "Ugh. I do not need this. I need freedom."

"Freedom is good, but I'm sure that'll come later." Emily said. "Right now I'd settle for a place to belong. Belonging somewhere is good you know. Aren't you ever lonely?"

"Of course I'm not lonely." Nemuri said. "I was part of a village of released pokemon. I was the advisor to our leader. Everyone looked up to me admired me. When I wanted someone, all I had to do was ask for them to come to me."

"That's not what I asked." Emily said. "You can have admirers and still be lonely."

"How exactly?"

"Well, you won't have a connection with an admirer." Emily said. "You need some emotional connection, it makes life much better. I'm willing to be that connection."

"I don't want your connections you absurd popinjay, I want you to leave me alone so that I can get back to my scheming. One day I'll be free, free of the ball, then I'll make my enemies tremble!"

"What on earth is a popinjay?" Emily asked. "I should really think about expanding my vocabulary also. Anyway, I'm not going to leave you alone. Not because I want to annoy you, but because I know you're unhappy. And you have enemies?" Nemuri sighed.

"Yes, a few. They are irrelevant to this discussion. What is relevant is why do you care so much if I might be lonely?" Emily smiled.

"Because you wouldn't care."

"...I must congratulate you Emily. You have succeeded in an endeavor few others have. You have left me confounded. What are you talking about?"

"It's alright, I confounded myself sometimes." Emily said. "Well, my ideal world is one where people are open. They're friendly, forgiving, loving above all else; essentially my ideal world is a fantasy. This is a world that won't happen because no one is willing to be the first one to try and change it.

"Well I'm willing. I want to spread friendship, so I'll be the first one to spread it. I'll forgive and be here for you Nemuri, even though you don't know me, because you need it." Nemuri paused.

"Uh...that's...it's um, thank you." Nemuri said. "I've...I'm taciturn, I truly am."

"No more big words man." Emily said. "You've got to stop that, it makes you sound like a prick."

"Yes I'm sure." Nemuri replied. "I'm...you want nothing from me in return? Nothing at all for my presence?"

"Nope. I figure you're going to need a friend, it should be me. I'm a nice person, or I at least think I am. I'm annoying sure, but I can generate electricity and teach you how to grow a blue rose. You can teach me just what taciturn means!" Nemuri did something I had yet to see.

He smiled.

"I will do just that Emily." Nemuri said. "I'm...I feel odd. This is most unusual. If you're my friend, what do I have to do now?"  
"Being a super genius doesn't make you many friends does it?" Nemuri shook his head. "Well nothing, just talk to me and I'll talk to you and keep you company on this journey." Nemuri nodded.

"I can do that. Thank you Emily." It was at this moment the phone to our room began to ring. Michael was awakened and answered it.

"He-hello?" Michael yawned and sat up. "Whuzzit?" His eyes snapped open. "She's where? Why am I not surprised? I'll be right away."

"That has something to do with Angela." Nemuri said, observing Michael.

"How do you know?"

"It's something bad. It logically follows that Angela is involved." Emily thought about it.

"You know, you're probably right."


	74. The Next Phase

**AN:** Thank you Lix Lorn the Eeveetrainer, Swack16, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, The Imaginatrix, and TJFS for reviewing.

**LXXIV: The Next Phase**

Michael just sighed as he signed a form authorizing my release. After a couple of minutes, the cops lead me out of a holding cell in hand cuffs. I took one look at Michael and Charlotte.

"They're not charging you with assault." Charlotte said. "They're blaming it on stress."

"I didn't do anything wrong." I snarled.

"You punched a reporter in the nose!" Michael said.

"Ah shut it."

"Not many people end up in a hostage situation and get themselves arrested." Michael said. "Have you ever considered working on your temper?" I continued to pack up my bag.

"I don't have a temper."

"...You're joking right? You're...well more then a bit scary at times. Angela, I've seen fireworks with longer fuses then you."

"If it bugs you, a firework can keep you warm at night." I snapped. Michael frowned.

"What's the matter with you Angela?" I ignored him and continued to fold my other set of clothing. "Angela?" I ignored him. More packing, now the potions I'd bought. "Angela!?" He grabbed my arm and I jerked off.

"Damn it, what?" I turned to Michael and one look at his concern made my anger wash away. "God damn it, sorry." I sat down on the bed and he sat beside me, taking my hand into his. "It's not being in a robbery, believe it or not. This had nothing to do with being held up by some shit sucking motherfucker with a gun." Michael rubbed my hand and nodded.

"What is it then?" I sighed and looked around the room. April was out on the balcony, Desiree, Charlotte and Virgil were in the other room, my pokemon and Gabriel were asleep on the floor at various places. No one to watch.

"Someone died in there. One of the robbers."

"Yeah, I heard that." I shook my head.

"No one saw this, just me. There was this man...this man in a yellow robe. He walked up behind this robber and..." I mimed stabbing him. "Straight in the back with this twisted looking knife. He...whispered something." I looked at my hands. "Guilt. You are seven of ten. Seven of ten.

"Then he just...walked out the door. He slipped out. When the idiot robber died everyone started to panic. Somehow, this guy in yellow managed to get out of there without anyone noticed. He had a fucking bloody knife in his hands and he still managed to get away! Except...not to me. I-I know where he's going. I know who he is."

"Who Angela?" I shook my head again.

"Not the name. But I know the organization. The Tabernacle of The Sun. More then that though. He wore a robe almost the same as the...the guy in the hospital. Faceless. Faceless was working for Not Milotic." Michael's surprise shined through as he connected the pieces.

"Angela, you think one of the largest religions on the planet...is working for Not Milotic." I nodded.

"More then that. I've known for some time that the Titan's are involved somehow. Alright, had a conversation with Not Meowth a few days ago. He refused to tell me anything directly. He refused to say that Not Milotic was involved with them, only that they had a Wraith and she wanted them to use it."

"The Wraith is the spirit-Titan-monster thing right?" I nodded. "This is so complex. Things were so much easier before."

"Before I was reborn as an Eevee?" I asked. Michael nodded. "Yeah that was probably the worst thing to happen to me." But you know what else is insane?"

"What?" I smiled.

"It's also the best thing to ever happen to me. Probably for all of the same reasons."

"Probably." Michael looked at all our sleeping pokemon. "What do you suppose they mean by seven out of ten? Why guilt. Does it have something to do with the Wraith?" I shrugged.

"No idea." Michael frowned. "What?"

"Something" He said, "Something I read about recently. I'd been reading an article on the chemistry of a pokemon brain since...well it's chemistry, I like it."

"I thought you wanted to study medicine!" I said.

"...No, I want to be a medical researcher, learning how to make new drugs. Which involves chemistry among other things. Anyway, the article had to do with the brains of pokemon and emotions. I can't remember much else. I can look it up later if you want."

"That would be appreciated." I said. "Whatever is happening, I've been stalked by freaks in robes way to often now. Not Milotic is doing something. The Titans are doing something involving me and I don't know what. The Legendaries want me and I don't know why! God almighty this fucking sucks!" Now I was almost crying. God I don't know why, but it got to me all at once. All that had happened to me over the last several weeks.

"Shhh shhh shh" Michael whispered, pulling me close. "Nothings going to harm you, not while I'm around." I blinked back tears and nodded.

"You really mean it?"

"Of course I do." Michael was telling the truth. For now, I wasn't going to come to harm because he was around.

While I continued to get everything ready, Michael stepped out for a bit, telling me he'd be back in a few hours. I meant to ask why, but I forgot to. I figured he'd be looking up that article. Instead, Michael headed for the videophones in the hotel lobby.

Michael dialed the number he'd dialed a few days earlier. He tapped his fingers anxiously until the picture appeared.

"Hey man." Louis said from the videophone. "I've gone ahead and transferred the money to your account." Michael grinned.

"Thanks Louis that's...that's great." Louis smiled softly.

"Honestly, what you're doing, it's the best thing I could help with. Believe me, I could use a project right now." He sighed.

"I'm sorry I haven't called as much as I could." Michael said. "I'll try to fix that. I'll-I'll call more." Louis nodded.

"Thanks man, I'd appreciate it. I'm doing better lately though. It just took awhile after Lisa" He paused. "Lisa, uh, I can't."

"I know you miss her Louis." Michael said. "I do too." Louis nodded. "I'll give you a call later today, when I've made my selection. I wish you could be here man. I feel so nervous."

"Don't be." Louis said. "You love her. This is the best thing you could do." Michael nodded. "Even if you are young."

"Given all I've been through in the last two and a half years, I'm not young anymore." Michael replied. "I've been burned, shot, traveled the globe, and stalked by my girlfriend's father. I feel really old now." Louis laughed.

"I believe it."

April was stroking Wade, looking at the door when I entered the room. She looked up at me and waved.

"Getting ready to go?" I asked. April didn't reply, she just kept looking at the door, occasionally fingering the pokeballs around her waste. Finally she nodded. "Something wrong?"

"Just wondering what do I do now?" April asked. "The next Johto League tournament is...I don't even know. Quiet a while from now. It's going to be a big thing. I'm going to be part of it. I've got all eight badges, I did it in I'm sure record time. So why am I not excited?"

"I thought we had dealt with this." I said. "You said you knew what you wanted to do after this was all over."

"Oh I am." April said. "But that's not what I mean. For some reason, I just don't want to go to the Johto League. I'm still going to do that, but something makes me not want to go."

"It's because of me." Wade said. "I'm going to have them all trembling at my might. And I invented the Johto League. And all leagues."

"Of course you did." I mumbled. "Anyway, if you don't want to go, don't go. I don't know why you don't want to, I think you're dumb for it, but that's your choice." April nodded. "I'm here for a different reason though, I wanted to ask a question."

"What?"

"Would you like to travel with our little psychotic group?" April's head snapped up. "You seem surprised."

"I am. Your group is massive already. I doubt you could afford another person." I laughed.

"They don't have any choice. I'm leading this voyage of the damned, if I want to assimilate more people into our psychotic little family, they have to agree to it." I frowned. "You know, our group is beginning to sound a little like a cult. I gotta work on that."

"Yeah probably." April said. "I appreciate the offer Angela. But...I just can't. Sorry."

"Why not?" She smiled.

"I'm used to traveling on my own. You've helped me a lot Angela, you really have, but I need some time now by myself to sort some things out. I also don't know how to act in a group." I wanted to protest, but honestly I understood.

"Too bad. I hope I'll see you again soon April."

"I'm sure you will."

After April left, I headed over to Charlotte's room. She was inside, sitting on the bed while Virgil and Desiree were on the balcony. Desiree was painting, while Virgil balanced Iggy and Kira on the tops of both of his hands.

"Do I even want to ask?" Charlotte shook her head.

"It'll make more sense if you don't know." She replied. "April leave?" I nodded. "Too bad, she...actually, I never got to talk to her. You spent most of your time with her. I'm assuming she's a nice person."

"She is." I said. I looked down at my clothing. I was wearing something completely new, completely alien to me. Long sleeves. "I hate this shit. When is winter over?" Charlotte frowned.

"Not for about six months. What, you've never experienced winter before?"

"No! Hoenn is tropical. I'm not used to being cold, it's friggin' horrible. You have to wear long sleeves. I can't stand long sleeves" I held up my hands, "You can barely see my tattoo."

"Did you talk to Michael about the Tabernacle robed guy in the store?" Charlotte asked.

"Yep. We're not telling Desiree what we saw." I said. "You say she's a follower, I don't care how devout, we can't tell her."

"I agree." This surprised me. Charlotte had traveled with Desiree a lot longer then me. You'd assume she'd want to tell her.

"We also can't tell Virgil." I said. Charlotte turned to me.

"Why? Virgil will be fine, we can trust him." I barely contained my surprise this time, but still kept it back.

"God almighty, Charlotte he's standing out there, posing with pokemon balanced on his hands for Desiree. I think that means he might tell her." Charlotte shook her head.

"Nah, I'm sure he won't." Ugh.

"Charlotte, I don't care if Virgil makes you moist, don't tell him." Charlotte started to protest, but I ignored it. He makes her horny, fine. I just was way to tired to deal with it. "I've got something else to think about. My sister."

"Your whole reason for traveling?" Charlotte asked. "Yeah, you've mentioned" She paused. "Oh! You said that the adoption records for your sister are in Olivine." I nodded. "Ah. You don't seem excited."

"I'm not." I shrugged. "I'm nervous. I might get the information I need, I might not. I might discover my sister is dead, or in Sinnoh, or any number of things." God almighty. "I know it'll be fine, but some how that doesn't help."

"I wish I had a sister." Charlotte said. "I might have a family member I was close too."

"Me too." I said. "We're quite a screwed up pair aren't we?"

"Yes we are."

Michael's errand took a few hours, but he made it back to the hotel before we were ready to leave. The first thing he did was head over to the video phones, to call up Louis again.

"Hey man." Louis said upon seeing his cousin. "How did it go?"

"They were a bit surprised when I said what I was looking for." Michael said. "Yeah I know, I'm only 19, that's way to young, blah blah blah. I've heard it all before. They still took your money though, you'll be happy to hear that."

"Few people will turn down money." Louis said. "Go ahead, show it to me." Michael nodded, and reached into his pocket. He paused for a moment.

_God, my heart is racing. I wonder how I'll feel during the big moment._

Michael pulled out a small, soft box. He opened it up, revealing a golden ring with a very small diamond.

"That's it?" Louis asked. "You could have gotten something much shinier, I gave you enough money dude."

"Yeah, because Angela is all about the big and shiny." Michael replied. "This one just...it looks like her I guess. God almighty I'm nervous." Louis grinned.

"I can see why man. I can't believe you're going to ask Angela to marry you." Michael smiled.

"Me neither."

Michael came back to the room, and within an hour, the five of us were out. I walked behind Desiree and Virgil, watching Desiree. She was speaking to Iggy who she held in her hands, while Kira rode on her back, looking.

_Did you have something to do with this Desiree? If you did...I'll make you sorry._

Beside me was Charlotte, with Quintcel beside her. Quintcel was saying something, but she didn't notice. Instead she was looking at Virgil.

_I can trust him. I know I can. He's been with me, helping me with Suicune._

Bringing up the rear was Michael, behind me and all our pokemon. He watched me, while occasionally glancing at the bulge in his pocket. He wanted to pull it out, but restrained himself from doing so.

_Angela I just love you so much. _ He shook his head. _No good. Angela, I can't stand the thought of being without you._ Michael sighed. _Too cheesy._

Finally, after way to long, we were out of Ecruteak and on to the next phase of our journey.

Though had I known what was coming next, I would have turned around. Something was waiting in Olivine, something that would change everything. Something that would only end with blood.

But more on that later.


	75. Planning For The End

**AN: **Thank you Rini, The Imaginatrix, Guest, TJFS, Shadow Blood Ninja, Angelic Sword, AnimeGirlyGirl, and ChristianDragon for reviewing.

**LXXV: Planning For The End**

Winter has an odd effect on the sun I think. It makes the sun look less yellow and red, like it should back in Hoenn, and more blue and white. It's just wrong. As you might have guessed, I missed Hoenn.

"I mean, Hoenn wouldn't have been cold." I said to Charlotte. "In Hoenn, summer is every day. We don't have to deal with things like winter, or snow, or cold. Winter doesn't happen! Who wouldn't want this?"

"It's been three days!" Charlotte snapped. "Winter happens! Get used to it! I happen to like snow I'll have you know!"

"Why? It's cold." Charlotte mumbled several profanities to low for me to hear. "I heard that. And it's still too cold."

I had bought one set of long sleeved clothing, due to having no idea how cold cold is, nor how frequent it is. Currently it was only a little cold, and according to Charlotte, it would get colder over the next few months. Months. Ugh.

I was complaining largely to try and ignore how cold I was (cold enough to feel my nipples cracking). Michael had bought himself an absolutely massive coat (Charlotte claimed he was going over board) and his mouth was blocked. Still, since Charlotte had nothing to say to me, I decided to try and talk to him. I sidled up beside Michael.

"So how are you dealing with the cold?"

"Mmmmfffff" Michael said. His coat was bright silver, and massively over stuffed. Light reflected off of it, blinding anyone unfortunate enough to look at the coat.

"Me too." I said. Route 38 cut through a forest and part of a mountain. The trees lining both sides of the road were explosions of yellow, red, burnt orange, brown, green and combinations of all of them.

Virgil and Desiree were at the head of our party, Iggy on Desiree's head. Desiree had switched her hair colors to match the leaves, with shocks of psychedelic red and orange throughout the blonde. Kira walked between her and Virgil, occasionally rubbing against Desiree. Virgil was in shorts and a T-shirt, of course, and was speaking to Desiree in somewhat hushed tones.

Behind them the Worthless Rejects walked. Pecha lead them, screeching something I tried not to listen to, holding a stick and gesturing. Trish fluttered above, occasionally flapping her wings hard enough to knock over Pecha. I couldn't help but laugh at this.

Charlotte was off to the left, Quintcel on her left. She was yawning, probably sleep deprived from sleeping in the friggin' cold. Charlotte stumbled off the trail, but Quintcel grabbed her before she could fall. She didn't acknowledge it; he didn't need her to.

Emily was asleep in my backpack, whimpering and kicking in her sleep. Saya was asleep beside her. This worried me since if Emily sleep shocked Saya, I'd end up drenched, possibly frozen. Nemuri was in his ball. He said pokemon like him didn't walk, walking was for normal pokemon. Darheel walked behind me. If he counts as normal, I need a new definition in normal.

Way behind our party of the damned was Anna and Gabriel, watching us. The two of them had been spending more time with each other as the weeks wore on, like right now.

"Do you mind it being cold?" Gabriel asked. "I'd warm you up, but I'm a water-type so heat isn't my thing." Anna smiled.

"No, it's alright." Anna said. Her head leaf was wrapped around her neck, keeping her warm. Her talons kept flexing against the rock hard ground as she walked. "I can barely break up the dirt. It feels so odd not being able to grip things. My talons give me traction usually. Trees are better for it I think."

"So you don't like it then?"

"Well the hard ground no. Otherwise...I kind of do." Anna said. She raised her right hand to where her ear hole might have been. "Gabe, outside of our group, what do you hear?" Gabe swiveled his head towards Anna.

"Hmm, nothing. Why?" Anna nodded, suppressing a laugh.

"That's the point. Nothing, nothing at all! It's so calm. I love the leaves incidentally, so much more color then I'm used to. My tree I remember was always green. The leaves were waxy." Anna reached down and scooped up a clawfull of orange and red. "These are damp, musty. But they're different in a good way I think. They're softer sort of. Less waxy. Scents not so good, but the color..."

"Color isn't something you got much of?" Gabriel asked.

"Green was all I got. Their was green everywhere. It was nice I mean I'm green so I can appreciate all the green. I wish I was red sometimes, uh, anyway the green is so boring. My mother I barely remember, but I do remember she wasn't green."

"What color was she?" Gabriel asked. Anna's gaze went somewhere else as they walked.

"Blue. A weird color of blue, with orange coloring. It was so shiny and warm. I was so little then, when she held me in her big blue talons. She was so warm and sweet. Her scent was like fruit. I wonder why."

"She sounds wonderful." Gabriel said.

"I'd like to think she was." Anna said. "I was so safe then." Anna shook her head. "They took me you know, right after that. They took me inside of that ball, away from my mamma." She sniffled. "I was so scared."

"It sounds terrible."

"It was. They let me out briefly, for this girl, horrid girl, named Robin. She took me and used me long enough to get something else, and then locked me inside of the ball. I stayed there for so long, in the dark." Gabriel stroked her arm and she calmed a little. "It was so horrible. That feeling of abandonment."

"Like you've done something wrong," Gabriel said, "And you have no idea what. Then comes that sinking feeling."

"They don't care about me do they?" Anna mumbled. "I wasn't what they wanted. I wasn't strong enough, I wasn't good enough."

"I couldn't be what they wanted." Gabriel sighed. "And worst of all, their is nothing I could have done about it. I was a failure from moment one." Anna reached over and pulled him closer.

"I don't think anyone of them knows that feeling like we do." Anna said.

"I agree. I'm glad they don't though. It's a terrible thing. Nothing has the same feeling afterwards, even masturbation." Anna frowned. "What?"

"You're a disgusting creature."

"Only a little." Gabriel said. "Yeah I enjoy pleasuring myself, I'm not going to deny it." Anna paused, and laughed.

"You know, I can actually appreciate that." She said. "Don't deny your own actions, just admit it. One of the last things Robin told me was she'd get me out of my ball when she had need for me. Instead of saying I don't want you, she left me wondering what I had done wrong."

"I'm amazed you know what masturbation is." Gabriel said. "You've been confused whenever I proposition you." Anna nodded.

"I asked Angela to tell me everything sexual she knew about."

Yes my dear listener, Anna and I really did have that conversation. I tell you a lot of inappropriate things. There is no way in hell that I am telling you about that particular conversation.

"She told me things that will haunt my nightmares for years to come" Anna said, "But a positive is I now know when you're doing something perverted." Gabriel grinned.

"I won't apologize for that either. I happen to be an..admirer of the grass-type form. Such a beautiful type. You yourself are a rather beautiful Grovyle." Anna looked down at Gabriel

"One more word about how I look while your little friend is out and I'll lacerate you with my talons." Gabriel laughed.

"Awe, you're no fun." He said. "But still, I've got a special love for grass-types. Always thought of them as desirable, type differences not withstanding. That's my plan when this ends, to find a mate like a Grovyle" Anna frowned, "Or any other grass-type, and go live far away from humans. Near the water somewhere. Maybe with three mates."

"Huh."

"No reaction to me wanting three mates? No threats?" Anna shook her head.

"You've been thinking about what you want to do after this little group breaks apart." She said, looking straight ahead at the rest of us. "You're working under the assumption that your trainer will free you."

"Oh I know he will." Gabriel said. "I'll let him know when I want to leave, and if he's really like he's tried presenting himself to me, he'll let me go when I want to go. He'll hate it, but he'll do it."

"I think he is like he's presenting himself to you." Anna said, "Nice guy, bit clueless around Angela. I'm more curious, are you sure you'd want to leave?"

"Honestly? Yes. I mean, I get the whole group thing. I get the interaction thing. I even get the trainer thing Michael wants me to do. I just don't like doing crap in groups. It's not my thing. I'm a rebel!"

Yeah Gabriel probably didn't call himself a rebel, but this speech was so cheesy I'm assuming he did.

"I just assumed you stayed away from everyone else because you were scared they'd beat you up when you said something perverted."

"That too." Gabriel said. "Still, I'd like to go off on my own, with my mate. It helps to know what you want to do when this is all over. What about you Anna?"

"What about me?"

"When Angela is done training you, what will you want to do?" Now this was a question Anna had never thought about. Why? One simple reason.

"Angela isn't done training me yet." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"That's not what I asked you. I asked you to think about the future. Eventually Angela is going to be done training you. She's not putting you into a storage box; you don't have a ball like me. At that point she's going to let you go." Anna felt her heart drop.

"What if I don't want to go?" Anna asked.

"...I don't know. I'm not your trainer." Gabriel said. "You'd have to ask her."

"Well I don't want to go!"

"Okay fine, you-"

"I can't go!" Anna said. "It would be unbearable! I mean, I don't know how to live in the woods. It's full of things that want to kill you."

"I thought you liked trees and all that plant crap."

"It's not plant crap!" Anna snapped, "It's that I...I don't know how to live on my own. At all. I've got no idea how to find food, how to survive among other pokemon, no idea. Going out on me own frightens me."

"That's why you plan." Gabriel said. "So you have a clue as to what you're going to do. One day we'll all be free and on our own. I already know what I'm doing."

"Just out of curiosity, have you ever lived on your own?" Anna asked.

"Nope. Doesn't matter, I know what I'm doing. I am prepared. Hell, I think it'll be fun, striking out into the world I don't know." Anna just shook her head. "What?"

"That's stupid!"

"Why?"

"Because it's dangerous. You shouldn't plan on putting yourself into danger!"

"It'll be no danger." Gabriel said. "I'll be stronger then. I'll be a Feraligater then, which just is awesome. Even if I do get into a fight with something that's dangerous, to me that's part of the fun. I'm going to ask again, what do you plan to do?"

"Stay as close to Angela as possible." Anna said. "I mean, I can trust her. She'll keep me safe, I know this."

"You just want to be safe?"

"Yes. Safety is a great thing. I like getting stronger also Gabriel, but I don't want to be out on my own again."

"You could always go with me." Gabriel said.

"Why?" She asked. "You'll have your three mates, what would I do?"

"...I've got a few ideas." Anna rolled her eyes.

"You are sick you know." She sighed. "Sadly, you've got a point Gabe. I don't want to think about the future. I don't know the future."

"That's what makes it exciting."

"That's what I don't like! I like knowing things. I can control things I know."

"You can't know everything Anna." Gabriel said. "It seems to me everything you don't know scares you. Is that why mating makes you uncomfortable?"

"One of the reasons." Anna said. "Gabe, when I was left alone for all that time, I didn't know what was happening at all. That sensation, that sensation of helplessness still messes with me."

"I know. You're better though then you were when we first met. I mean, then you were terrified of battling. You're not scared of that any more."

"No I'm not." Anna said. "But so many thing still terrify me. I don't want to think about the future. It's just a big unknown."

"Well you've got to." Gabe said, barely believing what she was saying. "Anna, time passes. You're going to have to deal with it. I know, it sucks." Anna nodded.

"I just don't want things to change. I don't want the future. I want to be trained by Angela for as long as I live. I mean, look at what we're doing. We're traveling a region! So many pokemon don't get to do this. They stay in one place their entire lives. Why can't we do this for the rest of our lives?"

"I don't know." Gabriel said. "I would if that's what you want. But I know Michael won't want to do this forever. Angela I'm sure won't. So, if they don't travel, will you still want to?" Anna frowned.

"Uh, y-yes I think. Huh."

"See! Now you're planning for the future. Anna, if you're so lonely, I'll travel with you, where ever you want to go."

"What about your three mates who pleasure you perpetually?"

"I'll some how survive without." Gabe said with a grin. Anna smiled also.

"Thanks Gabriel. You're a good friend, you know that?" Gabe's grin dipped slightly, but he recovered before she noticed.

"It's no problem Anna."

The two continued on behind us.


	76. Invincible

**AN: **Thank you Guest, Christian Dragon, Imaginatrix, and ShadowBloodNinja for reviewing.

**LXXVI: Invincible**

After too long a day of walking we finally decided to camp out. Virgil was currently working on the fire, and I stood behind him shaking.

"Anything yet?" Virgil shook his head. He kept trying to strike one of our matches, which unfortunately were soaked through. The leaves and twigs he was trying to light were also soaking wet.

"I'm unfortunately unable to light anything." Virgil said. "If your divine mother was here, she would be able to." I chose not to respond. "I will be able to do this, I just require more time." I kept shivering but nodded.

"Alright, I trust you." I said, sitting down on a rock. Michael came over beside me, jacket unzipped.

"If you want my jacket, I'll give it to you." He said. I smiled.

"Thanks, but no. It's yours; you paid for it, I forgot to buy one. Makes me a dumbass, but I gotta suffer for being a dumbass."

"Really? Huh, I'm used to you taking things when you need them."

"...Yeah me too. Wonder when that changed." I stood up. "I know something I can do, I can train. I am a trainer."

* * *

I got everyone together for a sparring match. Since I only had five pokemon (for now) I borrowed Kira from Desiree.

"You sure you can deal with me Kira?" Nemuri asked with a smirk (I guess) on his face.

"I think I know what I'm doing." Kira said. Nemuri laughed. Behind Nemuri, a rock began to glow purple, lifting straight out of the ground. "In face, I think I'm going to hit you harder then you thought possible."

"Alright everyone, we're going to spar until tired, not until knocked out." I said, shooting a withering glance at Kira. She stuck her tongue at me. I rolled my eyes. "Anna, you and Emily, Saya-

"I want to train with Emily." Saya said.

"...That's wonderful. Saya you're with Darheel."

"No, I want to train with Emily." Saya said. "She's got electricity, electricity is my big weakness. I'm not weak against a bug-type; I'm weak against electricity and grass. So either I'm fighting Anna or I'm fighting Emily. Anna is weak against Darheel, while Emily is not, it makes more sense for her to fight Darheel, me to fight Emily." My jaw dropped. "What?"

"I'm used to more, er, actually less thought from you Saya. I'm impressed." I laughed. "Alright, you wanna fight Emily, then you're with Emily." Saya grinned.

She and Emily moved across from each other. Saya just nodded.

"Alright, I'm thinking-

"I want you to zap me as hard as you can." Saya said. Emily cocked her head. "You heard me. Zap me, hard, as much power as you can. Don't worry I can take it. You hit me with as much juice as possible, I can take it." Emily frowned.

"Saya, that's dangerous. I can hurt you and I could burn the forest down. I could kill you by accident. Are you sure you want me to shock you?"

"I can take it, hit me as hard as you can." Saya said.

* * *

"Saya, you are not invincible." Noya said to her. The Seadra shook her head as her younger sister continued to slam her head against a large rock on the bottom of the sea floor. "Please stop doing that." Saya ignored her and slammed her head again.

"I almost got this. It's going to break and I'm going to be awesome. No wait, I am awesome, this will just make me more awesome. I mean, how many people can smash a rock with their head? Just me!" Noya rolled her eyes.

"Saya, you are impossible, you know that." Saya laughed and flipped around to face her sister.

"I'm incredible. I mean, we're in the ocean, all these water-types don't want to fight." Saya pointed at a Starmie floating back. "Starweaklings, they don't want to fight! Too many water-types are like that. We shouldn't be. We should be warriors!"

Noya sunk down beside her sister, sitting on the soft ground. "What dare I ask is so great about being a warrior?" Saya laughed.

"Everything. You are strong! You are admired! You are the tidal wave, crushing all of those who are in front of you. Water is strong, we must, I must be too."

"Yes and I must patch you up before Father and Mother ask." Noya said.

* * *

"Alright, I'm charging up." Emily said. "Saya, are you sure you want this?" Saya just grinned a suicidal grin and nodded happily. "If this forest burns because of you, I'll never forgive you."

"If it does, I'll soak everything." Saya said. "I can do whatever you need." Emily fired off a bolt that completely missed Saya. "Hey, what gives?"

"Are you sure about this?" Emily asked. "I don't want to hurt you." Saya frowned. "What?"

"About the worst thing you could worry about is me being hurt." Saya grumbled. "I don't see the big problem."

* * *

"Saya, that Corpfish had beaten you half to death." Mother said to her. "If I hadn't gotten to you fast enough, who knows what might have happen...are you listening to me?"

"No." Saya's Seadra mother smacked her daughter with her tail fin. "Owe! What did I do?" Mother just mumbled something under her breath.

"Saya, water-types don't fight each other for fun for a reason. It's dangerous and it's stupid. Peace is a good thing Saya. The ocean is calm and peaceful. Don't make to many waves, we'll all be better off for it."

"Better off? But it's so boring!" Saya moaned, doing a back flip. "Water-types could over run the land if we so wanted. That would be boring also, but it should be thought about. What's the point of being able to be strong if you don't do it? I mean, that's like having poison spines growing out of your back and when you run into an enemy, running away instead of poisoning them!" Mother ignored her. "Like a Seadra!" She sighed.

"Saya, you just don't get it do you?"

"Nope! And I never will. No one ever got stronger by playing it safe."

"No, but playing it safe means you don't make mistakes and you don't die!" Saya wanted to respond but found her words caught in her throat.

"...Not scared..." Mother turned to her defiant daughter.

"What did you say?"

"I'm not scared to-to-to, uh, to...you know."

* * *

"I'm not scared of being shocked" Saya said, "And if you are my teammate, you have to respect my wishes. Now do the noble thing and zap the ever loving shit out of me!"

"Why can't you just wait?" Emily asked. By now she had quit channeling electricity and was still resisting shooting a thunderbolt at Saya. She kept looking down at her forepaws instead of trying to shoot Saya.

"Wait till what?" Saya asked. "You mean until I've evolved?" Emily nodded.

"When you evolve into a Kingdra, you won't be hurt by electricity! Then I can zap you a lot and you won't be hurt."

"Wait. You want me to evolve, and you won't train with me to let me evolve? Honestly, do you see the problem?"

"Not really. You could train with Darheel instead, getting stronger without risk of being fried. You'd still evolve then also."

"I don't just want to evolve! At least, not just into a Seadra. It's not good enough to just evolve. I have to be fearless."

* * *

The sky seen through the water was dark and cloudy. The top of the sea was rough and churning, which would be a problem for most. However, not if you breathe under water.

"How are we today Saya?" Father said swimming up beside his daughter. She was looking straight up at the sky, ignoring her Seadra father. "Is up there that interesting?"

"What's happening?" Saya asked. "I don't get it, it's not night, why is it so dark?"

"Because it's storming" Father said, "It'll clear up soon. This is something we don't have to worry about." The clouds began to light up. Saya frowned.

"What's that?" Father laughed.

"That my daughter is lightening. It's electricity from storms, very strong. It can harm you."

"Lightning" Saya repeated, "I don't understand." The clouds lit up bright and Saya swam down a little. "It's bright."

"Brighter then the sun when you're to close to it."

"You can get close to it?" Saya asked, still mesmerized by the storm. She trembled a little looking at the lightning.

"Oh you can get more then close to it. As scary as it is to think about, you can get struck by lightening. It's something types who live on land and humans who live with them worry about. We stay down here, safe and secure. Lighting won't get to us." Saya didn't respond. "It's alright to be scared of the things that can kill you Saya. You're not weaker for it." Saya shook her head.

"I am a warrior. A warrior has no weaknesses."

* * *

"As such, I can not be weak to electricity, nor scared of it." Saya said. "Now hit me."

"It's alright to be scared of lightning." Emily said. "I'm scared of fire, and explosions, and politicians and the nation of Sinnoh. All of which can kill you! Most of those though are irrational. Electricity is not. It's a good thing to be scared of."

"You're not scared of it."

"Of course not, it's awesome! But I'm not going to get hurt anytime soon. I can absorb it. You can't."

"Alright, I'm getting sick of this." Saya said. "We're both warriors, so I'm giving you an ultimatum. Shock me, or get soaked." Emily cocked her head.

"What?" Saya shot a water gun straight at Emily, hitting her square between the eyes. Emily was knocked backwards, landing on her back. "Owe! That hurt. Why'd you do that?"

"I'm going to keep doing it." Saya said, shooting another water gun. "And again" Another one, "And again and again. Until you do as I say." Says hit Emily again, knocking her back a little. Emily growled.

"Fine, you want this?" Emily snapped. "You got it!" Electricity crackled in the air, and lighting flew off of Emily's tiny body. All of them rushed at Saya, who watched a grinned.

"Yes! More of that." The electricity hit Saya, lighting her up like a light bulb. "Oh GOD!" Saya clenched her eyes shut, as electricity flowed through her. Each individual nerve ending lit up in pain, but she didn't scream. She didn't cry.

She endured.

_I can do this. I have to do this._

* * *

"I will be a Kingdra one day." Saya said to Noya. Noya barely paid attention. "I'll be the first one of us to be a Kingdra."

"Sure you will." The two were swimming near the surface. Above them light filtered down, but vanished quickly into darkness. Other water-types swam near them. A couple of minutes ago Noya had pulled Saya away from a Sharpedo who wanted to eat her.

"I could have taken him you know." Saya grumbled. "When I'm a Kingdra, no one will attack me. No one attacks a dragon-type; no one would attack a water-type who is not weak to electricity. Everyone who thinks I'm just a weak Horsea will tremble!"

"Tremble, that's nice." Noya said. "Mother and Father will kill you. They told you not to run off, you did just that. They said don't go off without telling them, you didn't say a word. Nope, you didn't what you want as usual, and it's only by dumb luck I found you."

"I was doing just fine." Saya said. "I knocked out two Qwillfish and Staryu. Who else does that in the morning? Just Saya." Noya said nothing, and Saya just sulked. She wanted to go back and keep battling, but if she ran off, Noya would catch her.

_When I'm a Kingdra, this won't happen. No one in our family has ever been a Kingdra. I'll_ _be the first._

Without warning, Noya and Saya swam under a large shadow, causing them to stop swimming. The two looked up.

"What's that?" Saya asked. Above them was a large metal thing floating above them, a human boat. Noya gulped.

"Saya, we need to leave, now." In the distance, Noya could see two figures, in all black, swimming towards them. Both had goggles over their eyes and were breathing through things in their mouths. "We need to go, now!"

"Why?" Saya swam closer.

"Damn it Saya, we need to go!" Noya bit onto her sister's tail, only to have Saya squirm out. "Saya no!"

"What? I've never seen...what are they?"

"Humans!"

"Awesome!" Saya swam away from her sister, even as Noya protested, over to the two humans. She swam right up to the eyes of one, who stopped moving in order to look at her.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Saya said. The human in front of her lifted up something. A blue ball, with a white squiggle shape on top. "What do you suppose that's for?"

* * *

_I survived being captured. I survived being inside of that stupid fountain._ Saya clenched harder. _I survived it all. They couldn't break me. Noya couldn't stop me from getting stronger. I will do whatever it takes._

Pain was overriding her mind. Saya wanted to scream, but doing that would admit defeat. Just got to stop this.

Saya drew water up from inside of her, as much as she could. If she did this wrong, she'd end up electrocuting herself much worse then she already had been. The pain intensified as she did this, but she kept on.

Opening her eyes took almost all of Saya's energy, but she did it. The world was bright and sparking. Emily was still firing off power, eyes down at the ground. Saya lined up her mouth with the top of Saya's head.

_Got one shot. Ready aim fire!_

Saya fired off a solid blast of water, which cut straight through the electricity. It sailed without grace, without form, and without beauty, but it did what it needed to do. Specifically, slam into Emily's head and smash her into the ground, turning off the electricity. Emily just laid there. Saya grinned and looked up.

"Yes! I am invincible!"

Saya began to glow bright white. Everyone paused what they were doing and turned towards her. Saya grew larger, denser. Spines grew out of her fins, out of the top of her head. Finally the glowing stopped.

Saya looked down, at her new Seadra body. She examined herself, flicking her fins and shooting out a stream of water.

_One step closer to being a Kingdra. I can do it._

"I am invincible."


	77. A Matter of Trust

**LXXVII : A Matter of Trust**

_Can I trust you?_

It was afternoon and we had just stopped after another day of walking. Saya had evolved the day before and was riding high on being a Seadra. She had spent most of the day shooting people with water to show she could and to remind us that she was damn strong. Now though we had set up camp, and were just messing around after a long day.

"You look really serious." Charlotte said, sitting beside me. I just nodded. I was sitting on a stump, looking at something. "What's bugging you?"

"Oh...just something." I mumbled. What held my attention was Desiree, currently set up in front of a grove of trees. Virgil was lying beside her, fast asleep. Kira and Iggy were asleep on him. Charlotte turned towards my gaze.

"Desiree?"

"Yep." I mumbled. Ever since I confirmed that it was the Tabernacle of the Sun that was stalking me, I'd been...well thinking about them. From there I wondered about those with them, and who would join them, and it always came back to the same person.

Desiree.

"You can trust her you know." Charlotte said. "Just because she's one of them doesn't mean she knows what they're up to."

"I don't know what they're up to." I said. "I've spent all my time wondering why I keep seeing them, why I'm being stalked by them, and the always popular, why do people keep dying around me? The last one is a pretty big issue. I mean you were there with me, you saw that idiot robber guy get killed. Seven of ten. Guilt is seven of ten, why guilt?

"Why ten? Where does ten come from? Why guilt? Why was I attacked by a nameless person in the pokecenter? What does the Tabernacle of the Sun want with me? Why are there only more questions?" My voice never wavered for a second, not an emotion got out. Charlotte looked afraid.

"I-I don't...you can trust Desiree." Charlotte said.

"Yeah sure. You know what my problem is with religious people Charlotte?" She shrugged. "Religious people are never loyal to you. Not really. If they've got a cause or ideology they believe in, they will be loyal to that." I frowned. "In a way, that's more dangerous."

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked.

"A person can be tainted. I've seen it happen. The Titans for instance, they've got the powers of gods, but they're so damned removed from humanity they're not worth worship. No one would follow them. Desiree follows an idea though. You can't hurt an idea."

"So...what does that mean?" Charlotte asked. She took off her hat and shook her head, her hair smacking me in the face.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, I've been sweating into this thing all day. You try wearing a cowboy hat with long hair, you'd sweat also." Charlotte pulled her hat back on. "I don't care if Desiree is a member of the Tabernacle. I don't care if she sacrifices children while having an orgy with every pokemon within three miles. I still trust her."

"I think I'd care if she was doing the last one!" I protested.

"Alright, that's a bit extreme, but you can trust Desiree. I'm sure of it. I burned down a hotel with her, and if you can't trust the girl who helped you burn down a hotel, who can you trust?" I smirked.

"You and I got held up in a robbery. Do you trust me?"

"...That will come in time." Charlotte replied. How diplomatic. I knocked her hat off. "Hey!"

"I'm going to talk to Desiree. I'll see if I can trust her or not." I stood up. "I hope the answer is yes."

* * *

When you don't trust a friend, you feel like real shit. Even if there is a chance your fears are justified, it doesn't matter. Because on thought is going through your head.

_She would trust me, why don't I trust her?_

My limbs had turned to cement by now, and I had to drag both of them. I wanted to speak, but suddenly my mouth was dry and my stomach threatened to spill its contents. Still I made it over behind her.

Desiree was painting the colorful trees. She was humming something, couldn't catch the tune and just seemed happy. The painting she was making sort of looked like the trees but smudged every where. Explosions of color against the canvas.

"The details can make or break a piece." Desiree said to me. "Each one of these splotches seems random, and that's the goal. There is an order to the chaos! It fits perfectly. Isn't that a good analogy for life? Little pieces making a greater whole."

"I wasn't aware you knew what analogy meant." I said.

"Art should be a reflection of life." Desiree continued. "Real art, good art is alive and fills you with life when you look at it. I think this is going to be alive." Desiree ended up burning that painting in our fire that evening.

"Why are you painting the forest?" I asked. "You usually paint Iggy." Desiree nodded.

"Iggy is just an explosion of blue energy, but that's not what I'm going for today. Look at that!" Desiree said, pointing upwards. I looked.

The sky was steel gray. The sun lit up all of the clouds, but it was still full of clouds.

"Clouds? It's...cloudy? Is that a good thing?"

"You know it is." Desiree said. "When they sky is bright and cloudless, all the color gets washed out by the sun. Not now though. The clouds just make the trees pop! The color is so alive and vibrant, I want to wrap it up and put it on canvas." I frowned.

"I don't get it." Desiree smiled.

"That's alright, when I finish this you will. Everyone will see it, that this is the world as I see it. Nothing will distract me!" Desiree lost interest when she found an octagon shaped rock. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, just a few little things." I mumbled. I could feel a lump in my chest, weighing me down. I looked down at Desiree's necklaces, of which there were several. One was a series of metal stars, one was a knotted rope, one was puka shells (people still wore those?) and one was bright silver and ended with what appeared to be a circle with a figure super-imposed over it. "What's that?"

"These? These are puka shells! These are never going out of style." Desiree said with glee. Incidentally, Desiree being a plus sized girl could barely get said shells around her neck, just making them seem more out of place. Still, not what I was pointing at.

"Not that you ninny. The circle thing?" Desiree grinned.

"Ah this?" She reached up and untangled it from all the other necklaces. "This is my Tabernacle necklace. It shows my commitment to the God of all living things. I've had this one since I was a little girl." She went back to painting.

"Okay. The god of all living things?" Desiree sighed and set her brush down.

"You want me to explain it to you? If so, I must warn you I'm not great at explanations, but I know a priest in Mahogany Town." I shook my head.

"No, I just" Yep, now I had to lie to Desiree. Aren't I a great friend? "I've been traveling with you for so long, I want to know more about you Desiree." Desiree's face lit up.

"Awe, that's so nice Angela! I want to know more about you too. Alright, according to the tenants of my beliefs, the God of creation created the sun, all the stars, everything. The sun is overflowing with light and warmth; it is the closest thing to a physical manifestation of his majesty. Some believe the God will come into the world from the sun. Hence the symbol and name."

"That's...something." I said, which was true. A load of crap is something. "Why do you believe?" Desiree turned back to her canvas.

"Life I think is beautiful. Life should be overflowing with love, peace, trust, it should be better then it is. The Tabernacle believes in bettering yourself and the world around you. I mean, I do it through painting. That appealed to me, try to make the world better for everyone. My parents weren't happy, but that's alright with me. I love them anyway." I'm actually a bit ashamed to admit what I thought next.

_Damn it, she's not a member because her parents were. She actually believes. Great, got to dig deeper._

"You...you visit the Tabernacle much." Desiree glanced up with a confused smile.

"Yes, every time we enter a city. I pray for the success of our journey and the improvement of our lives. I want things to be better for all of us, even though I know prayer alone won't do it. The God won't help someone who doesn't help themselves. We're supposed to work to improve the world, to make a place free of hate and fear. I hope for all of us."

"Yeah that's great, Desiree what's the form of the god?" I asked, ignoring everything she had just said to me.

"...Form? The God of creation is beyond form and gender. That being said, the God has taken many forms before. Generally pokemon, not sure about that one." Pokemon, definitely pokemon. I was wondering though about one in specific. "You know, there is a fringe group within the Tabernacle..."

"Fringe group?" I asked.

"Yeah. Call themselves...something, don't know what. Anyway, they believe the God takes the form of a Milotic." My heart skipped a beat. "Only a Milotic, any other form is a lie. Other then that, that group pretty much keeps to themselves don't know anything about them. I think our current Chrono is one."

"Chrono?"

"Our leader. The name means...something! I believe it means something!" You gotta love Desiree. You really do. "Anyway, our current Chrono is Chrono Grek. He doesn't give many speeches or issue many decrees. Thank goodness, to many rules to keep up with anyway." Desiree returned to her painting. "I think this needs more mud."

"Mud?"

"Mud is great. Adds texture, has its own color, has its own scent to it." Desiree said. "Everything has a scent, a color, and a texture. I try to absorb as many as I can. I want my works to be alive, they need all three. Color, scent, texture. Life also comes through making them. For that you need order, design, composition, tone, form, symmetry, balance, and harmony."

"That's a lot of crap for just painting." Desiree's paint brush snapped in two in her hand.

"Just painting? Just painting!?" Desiree flipped around, eyes wide enough for her eyeballs to pop out.

_This is the crazy I was looking for._

"Yeah, just painting." I said. "I don't get the big point."

"It's not just painting! It is creating Angela! To create, to bring something from nothing, is the most incredible thing one can do!" Desiree was spitting as she shouted this, moving from funny crazy to scary crazy. Incidentally Virgil, Iggy, and Kira remained asleep through this.

"Okay that's something." I said. "You sure got mad about that." Desiree nodded.

"Sorry. I just was bothered by that Angela, you must understand." Her voice was full of guilt of all things, guilty that she had reacted. "This is important to me, like pokemon training for you. I mean, painting helps me structure my life." I nodded, but my mind was elsewhere.

_I don't think Desiree is spying on us. But I can't be sure._

"Why do you need structure? Desiree, you've always struck me as someone who would choke under structure."

"Oh I would. With too little though, I'd go insane. I mean, their are so many choices to make, like what to wear in the morning, what to eat for dinner, which direction to walk. I once broke down and sobbed when trying to use a soda fountain. Most of the time, if I can't decide what to do, I just do everything!" That explains why she was wearing two belts. "Painting isn't like that for me."

"How so?" Desiree returned to her work. She reached down and scooped up a handful of mud, before spreading it onto the painting.

"Well with painting, you have to plan. You've got only so much area to paint. I can't just paint everything. At least, not yet." I nodded.

_The only things I've determined is Desiree believes in nonsense and she likes to paint. Then again..._

"Desiree, what if you don't succeed in painting? What's your plan?"

"My plan?" Desiree shrugged. "I guess go back to my parents. Their a bit rich." Of course they are. "But honestly, I don't care if I succeed or not." I cocked my head.

"How can you not care?" I asked. She laughed.

"Because it doesn't matter! What matters if I enjoy it."

"...That's stupid! What matters is you succeed and everyone knows you've succeeded." I sure am an awesome friend, aren't I? Desiree giggled and shook her head.

"I hope you don't think that Angela."

"And if I do?" She sighed.

"Well...you'd be a rather miserable person I think. Success! Fame! Publicity! None of these things matter." Desiree paused. "I wonder what color fame is..." She shook her head, her colored hair flopping around in the wind. "You don't agree with what I think, do you Angela?"

"Not really." I said, smiling softly. "But I find your sincerity interesting."

"Why wouldn't I be sincere?" Desiree asked. "I've got no reason to lie to you, you've got no reason to lie to me." I felt guilt stabbing through me.

"Yeah, no reason." I mumbled. "Uh, Desiree..." She turned to me, smile still fresh on her face. "I don't understand your reason for painting, or your religion, but I think both have made you a good person. Even if I find them nonsensical, I will respect what you think." Most of that came out due to guilt.

"Thanks Angela." Desiree said. "I'm glad you're my friend." I nodded.

"Me too Desiree." I turned to walk away, but even as I did, I wondered something.

_She seems so sincere. I can trust Desiree. I can trust her. I can trust her I think. I hope..._


	78. Notice

Hey guys, this is srge, no update this week, been in the hospital. I will update next week though.


End file.
